Cig Harvey: Emerald Drifters

Cig Harvey is a British born artist and writer, who lives in Maine, USA, working in large-scale color photography and creative non-fiction. She uses both images and language to explore sensory experiences and elevate the everyday. Rich in implied narrative, deeply rooted in the natural world, her work is devoted to the topic of what it is to feel.

She has published five sold out books: You Look At Me Like An Emergency (Schilt Publishing, 2012); Gardening At Night (Schilt Publishing, 2015); You An Orchestra You A Bomb (Schilt Publishing, 2017); Reveal (with Andrea Modica & Debbie Fleming Caffrey; Yoffy Press, 2020); Blue Violet (Monacelli / Phaidon 2021) which is now in its fifth printing. Her latest book, Emerald Drifters will be published by Monacelli / Phaidon in Spring 2025.

Her photographs and books are in the permanent collections of many museums and private collections across the world including The Library of Congress (New York); Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia Museum of Art, (Pennsylvania); Yale University; Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, Texas); the Farnsworth Art Museum (Maine, USA); the International Museum of Photography and Film at the George Eastman House (New York), and the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection.

Cig had her first solo museum show at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo, Norway (2012), and a mid-career solo exhibition at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine, USA (2019). An installation of Cig's work was part of three contemporary exhibits exploring the theme of humans and nature at the Fotografiska Museum of Photography in Stockholm (2023), Fotografiska Tallinn, Estonia, and Fotografiska New York (2024).

She was awarded the Prix Virginia Laureate (2018), and the Maine in America Award by the Farnsworth Art Museum (2021). She was a nominee for the John Gutmann Fellowship, the Santa Fe Prize, the Prix Pictet, and a finalist for the BMW Prize, the Estee Lauder Collection, the Karl Lagerfeld Collection at Paris Photo, the Clarence John Laughlin Award, and The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. She was the JP Morgan Laureate at Paris Photo (2022). Eat Flowers won the Fine Press Book Association Judge's Choice Award for Best Book in Show at the Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair (2022). She was the recipient of the 2023 Visionary Award, given by Maine Media to recognize and celebrate artists making extraordinary contributions to the fields of visual arts.

In 2023, Eat Flowers, a documentary film about Cig by River Finlay, premiered at prestigious film festivals worldwide winning many awards including Special Jury Prize at the Sante Fe International Film Festival for Documentary Short, the Audience Award at the Indy Shorts, the Festival Jury Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Best Achievement in Filmmaking Award at the Alexandria Film Festival and the 2023 IDA (The International Documentary Association) Best Short Documentary: Shortlist.

Cig is a member of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and the Society of Professional Journalism (SPJ). She regularly contributes to the New York Times.

Cig Harvey lives in Maine with her husband Doug and daughter Scout. The passing of time and the natural surroundings of her rural home has made her alert to the magic in the mundane.