McNair Evans is a photographer based in Richmond, VA whose photographs appear in numerous publications and exhibition settings. His first monograph, Confessions for a Son, was pre-released at the 2014 New York Art Book Fair and sold out within months. McNair is the recipient of numerous awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, the Innovation in Documentary Arts Award from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University, and the John Gutmann Photography Fellowship. His books and prints are held in public and private collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, and Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.
Awards & Recognition
United States-Japan Leadership Program, Bilateral Delegate, 2023-24
Emerging Leaders Seed Grant, Mineta Transportation Institute, 2023
Research Associate, Mineta Transportation Institute, 2023
Innovation Award, Archive of Documentary Arts, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, 2017
Princeton University Class of 1952, Honorary Member, 2017
Guggenheim Fellowship, 2016
Echode, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 2-Year Project Grant, 2015-2016
PDN30 Award, Photo District Magazine, 2015
John Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award, 2014
Artist-In-Residence, Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA, 2013
1st Place, A Juried Exhibition Celebrating Photography of the Rural South, Slow Exposures, 2013
1st Place, A Juried Exhibition Celebrating Photography of the Rural South, Slow Exposures, 2012
Flash Forward 2012, Emerging photographers of Canada, US, & UK, Magenta Foundation, 2012
Oxford American, “The New Super Stars of Southern Art” # 36, 2012
Curator’s Choice Award, 1st Place, CENTER, 2011
Editor’s Choice Award, Honorable Mention, CENTER, 2011
NANPA College Scholarship, North American Nature Photographers Association, 2008
Collections
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University
David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Permanent Collection
Sir Elton John Photography Collection
Books & Monographs
Begin Anywhere, SF Camerawork. San Francisco, CA, September, 2017
Confessions for a Son, Owl & Tiger Books. San Francisco, CA, October, 2014
Solo Exhibitions
Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC, June 2-July 16, 2023
Confessions for a Son, Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC, March 9-April 31, 2017
Field Sketches, Equinom Projects, San Francisco, CA, November 18, 2016-January 7, 2017
Echode, Public Art Installations throughout downtown Laurinburg, NC, May 2016
In Search of Great Men, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2016-Janurary 17, 2017
Confessions for a Son, Sasha Wolf Gallery, New York, NY, February 25-April 6, 2015
Confessions, Book & Job Gallery, San Francisco, CA, December, 2014
Confessions for a Son, Rayko Gallery, San Francisco, CA, November 20-January 10, 2014
Playing by the Heart, Photographs from North Carolina’s Thriving Bluegrass Culture, AFAR Foundation Fundraiser. Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA, April, 2013
Group Exhibitions
Advances and Declines, Los Angeles Center for Photography, Los Angeles, CA, September 30-November 5, 2022
8×10 Fundraising Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, September 8–29, 2022
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, Windgate Museum of Art, Conway, AK, September 10, 2021-December 10, 2021
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, Lake City Creative Alliance, Lake City, SC, May 21, 2021-August 14, 2021
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, LSU Museum of Contemporary Art, Baton Rouge, LA, October 22, 2020-February 14, 2021
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS, June 12, 2020-September 6, 2020
Early Works / Never Shown, Equinom Gallery, San Francisco, CA, February 5, 20202-March 8, 2020
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, January 30, 2020-April 26, 2020
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Raleigh, NC, September 6-December 29, 2019
Unlimited: Recent Gifts from the William Goodman and Victoria Belco Photography Collection, BAMPFA, Berkeley, CA, March, 27–September 1, 2019
Homecoming, Art By Alumni; Celebrating 25 Years of The Belk Visual Art Center, Van Every / Smith Galleries, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Davidson, NC, March 14–April 14, 2019
Southbound: Photographs of and About the New South, Power Plant Gallery, Duke University, Durham, NC, Spring, 2019
South Bound, Photographs of and about the New South, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, SF, October 19, 2018-March 2, 2019
Annual Benefit Auction, Scotland Memorial Foundation, Laurinburg, NC, October, 2018
2018 Benefit Art Auction, Headlands Center for the Arts, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, San Francisco, CA, June, 2018
Art on a Postcard, London Art Fair, London, UK, May, 2018
Euqinom Gallery Exhibit, London Art Fair, London, UK, May, 2018
Euqinom Gallery Exhibit, San Francisco Photo Fair, San Francisco, CA, Winter, 2018
Begin Anywhere, San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, CA, September 7, 2017-October 14, 2017
Echode, Public Art Installations throughout downtown Laurinburg, NC, May 2016
Breaking Ground: Contemporary Photography at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, November, 2014
Exhibit of Southern Photography curated by John Bennette, Slow Exposures, Zebulon, GA, September, September 18-October 2, 2013
A Juried Exhibition Celebrating Photography of the Rural South, curated by Rob McDonald & Kevin Miller, Slow Exposures, Zebulon, GA. Judges 1st Place, September 18-October 2, 2013
Blog Re-Blog, SIGNAL gallery, Brooklyn, NY, August 2-11, 2013
Pace Academy Exhibition, Slow Exposure’s Retrospective Show, Atlanta Celebrates Photography
Flash Forward 2012, Fairmont Battery Wharf, Boston, MA, October, 2012
A Juried Exhibition Celebrating Photography of the Rural South, curated by Julian Cox & Brett Abbott, Slow Exposures, Zebulon, GA. Judges 1st Place, September 17-October 1, 2012
Survey of Documentary Styles in early 21st century Photobooks, Indie Photobook Library, Carte Blanche Gallery, San Francisco, CA, September 14-October 18, 2012
The Art of Photography Show, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA, September, 2012
Curve Group Exhibition, CENTER. Center Space, Santa Fe, NM, September, 2011
Something Personal, American Photographic Artists. Left Space Studios, San Francisco, CA. Judges’ Choice 2nd Place, December 2009
Lectures & Artist Visits
Maine Media Workshops, 2023, 2021, 2020
San Jose State University, 2021, 2022
Los Angeles Center for Photography, 2021, 2020
Center for Photographic Art, 2021, 2020
Davidson College, 2019
Duke University, 2019
Weatherspoon Art Museum, 2018
East Tennessee State University, 2018
University of Virginia, 2018
The Hartford MFA Program, Hartford University, 2017, 2014
Academy of Art University, 2017
San Francisco Art Institute, 2017
The Oxbow School, 2017
Woodberry Forest School, 2017
Rayko Photo Center, 2016
California College of the Arts, 2016
University of Alabama, Birmingham, 2015
New York University, 2015
San Francisco Photo Alliance Lecture Series, 2014
Western CT State University, 2014
University of South Carolina, 2014
University of California, Sacramento, 2014
University of West Indies, Barbados, 2012
University of California, 2011
Education
M.F.A. Photography, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA, 2011
Mike Smith, Mentorship/Directed-Study, Johnson City, TN, 2010
Alec Soth, Mentorship/Directed-Study, Minneapolis, MN 2009-2010
Laura Harden, Mentorship/Directed-Study, San Francisco, CA, 2009
B.A. Anthropology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, 2001