Claire Rosen

This series of whimsical panoramic photographs depict animals reveling around elaborate banquet tables, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, "The Last Supper” and by Pierre Subleyras classic painting, “The Feast in the House of Simon”. The intricate table spreads are carefully arranged, in the style of dutch still life paintings of the 17th century. The series features anthropomorphized creatures great and small; from Elephants enjoying piles of peanuts and large stacks of peanut butter sandwiches to Honeybees swarming miniature trays of nectar flowers, and many other creatures winged, hoofed and found under the sea. Some of the animals are exotic, some we see everyday. Created during extensive travel with goats from a suburb of Sarajevo in Bosnia, lar gibbons from Thailand, starfish from Norway, bison from Indiana USA, and three toed sloths found along the Amazon River in Peru to name just a few.

In 2014, Rosen created a photo series entitled Fantastical Feasts, which features animals eating around banquet tables in compositions that allude to Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. Each photo in the series features a different species—including elephants, tapirs, sloths, miniature ponies, goats, mice, parakeets, honey bees, hedgehogs, etc.—eating the foods it prefers. Ron Haviv, New York photojournalist and owner of VII photo agency, assisted with the project. Rebecca Manson, New York expert retoucher, worked with Rosen on the images.

Birds of a Feather was created in 2012. It includes common pets like parakeets, as well as exotics like the Hyacinth Macaw. Rosen discovered Bird Paradise, the "largest exotic bird superstore," in New Jersey while trying to find a toucan to photograph for a commercial project, and was inspired to do a photoshoot with the birds in the store. She created sample images with her own pet parakeets. The photos were set up as portraits with traditional portrait lighting. Rosen brought sheets of wallpaper from Waterhouse Wallhangings to serve as backgrounds for the portraits. Friend Tom Pisano assisted with the photoshoot, handling the birds.

In 2010, Rosen photographed the vintage taxidermy in the collection of the Millbrook School in Dutchess County. She was selected as an artist in residence for the school. The collection contained 10,000 eggs, and approximately 500 taxidermied animals, birds, and reptiles, dating back to the early 20th century. The whole collection encompasses rare and endangered species from all over the world, covering an extraordinary period of time, with pieces dating back to the 1800's. In addition to the exotic, it is an excellent record of local wildlife and hosts examples of birds of prey found and preserved by students on campus. Beyond its impressive numbers, the Millbrook collection has a story to tell. For example, during the renovation of the science building, hundred of boxes and tins were uncovered beneath the floorboards. Each tin contained a bird's nest, wrapped carefully in newspaper from the 1920s and accompanied by a handwritten description of its contents. In addition, beautifully handwritten personal letters and journals from the original collectors were also discovered.

In 2009, Rosen moved back to New York and began working independently as a fine artist. She exhibited photos from her two series in juried shows. Fairy Tales received attention, and some images were licensed by magazines to run alongside articles. This marked the beginning of Rosen's crossover into commercial work, whereupon she began creating commissioned images for book covers, clothing designers, and other organizations. The vivid storytelling throughout Claire's work has enabled her to construct unique creative campaigns and installations for a wide range of commercial brands. From fashion labels to luxury hotels, book publishers to restaurants, her portfolio of commissioned images bridges the gap between fine art and commercial work. To date, Rosen has created commissioned work for National Geographic Magazine, FujiFilm US, Alex Randall Chandeliers, Neiman Marcus at Short Hills, Smithsonian Magazine, Random House Book, and a number of other businesses and magazines.

Rosen attended Bard College at Simon's Rock, where she tried photography for the first time. She graduated with a liberal arts degree in 2003. She attended Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where she learned technical skills and met Steve Aishman, a physicist-turned-photo instructor who became a mentor to Rosen. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography in 2006.

Claire Rosen (born 1983, New York) is an American fine art photographer. She was included in Forbes magazine's "30 Brightest Under 30" list for 2012 and 2013 in Art & Design. Her award-winning work has been displayed internationally from New York to Seoul and belongs to a number of public and private collections. Rosen's work often features anthropomorphic animals, archetypal heroines, or symbolic still-lives evoking the aesthetics of classical painting influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and referencing the Victorian Era. The transportive images captivate with a fascination of the natural world and ideals of beauty.

Born in New York in 1983 and raised in New Jersey, Claire Rosen is the eldest daughter of Dolly and Edward Rosen. Her mother is a culinary historian specializing in Victorian-era cake baking, and her father is a banking and intellectual property lawyer who interested Rosen in philosophy and the Socratic method from an early age. She has younger sisters whom she would drape in sheets and pose as Greek goddesses in the family's backyard when they were children. Her mother read to them from Grimm's Fairy Tales, Beatrix Potter, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and L. Frank Baum. Rosen was also taken on frequent trips to the zoo, the circus, and the Museum of Natural History, which fostered a love of animals and taxidermy that has carried into her art.