Phil Borges

                              

For over 25 years Phil Borges has been visiting and documenting indigenous and

tribal cultures around the world. Through his projects, he strives to promote and

preserve cultural diversity. His images tap deeply into the human spirit of his

subjects, whose warm and honest faces peer out from colorless and spectacular

landscapes.

 

Phil's exhibit and award winning book, TIBETAN PORTRAIT: The Power of

Compassion, focused on the endangered people of Tibet, marginalized by the

Chinese occupation of their homeland. "With direct, uncompromising gazes, his

subjects, old and young, stare back with a wisdom and strength that seems born

of suffering," writes the Washington Post. In 1998 he joined Amnesty International

to present ENDURING SPIRIT, an exhibit and book celebrating the 50th anniversary

of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Phil's most recent

book, The Gift was released in December 2000. The Gift documents the work of

Interplast, an organization that provides free reconstructive surgery in developing

countries. Photographed in Peru and Vietnam, The Gift is helping Interplast

celebrate 30 years of service to children around the world.

 

Phil recently hosted two documentaries for the Discovery Channel and is currently

working on a four-part television series focusing on selected indigenous cultures

who believe the natural world is animated with powerful spirits. The project, titled

Spirit of Place, also includes a photographic exhibit and book about the people who

still communicate spiritually with the natural world.

 

Photographs by Phil Borges have been collected and exhibited in museums and

galleries worldwide. His award winning books have been published in four

languages and in 1998 he was presented the Photo Media Magazine "Photoperson

of the Year" award. Phil teaches and lectures internationally and is co-founder of

Blue Earth Alliance, a 501c3 that sponsors photographic projects focusing on

endangered cultures and threatened environments. He lives with his family in

Seattle.

 

Selected Solo Exhibits

 

- 2001 South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, SD.

- 2000 Galerie D'Art Contemporain, Luxembourg

- 2000 Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina

- 2000 National Gallery of the Grand Cayman Islands, British W.I.

- 2000 Kulturernas Museum,Helsinki, Finland

- 1999 Kunsthal Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1998 WhiteHouse, Washington, D.C.

- 1998 Tasende Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

- 1998 Trinity Gallery, Atlanta, GA.

- 1998 Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA.

- 1998 Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA.

- 1998 Albuquerque Museum, NM.

- 1997 Whyte Museum, Banff, Alberta, Canada

- 1997 Studio Gallery, San Diego, CA.

- 1997 Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC.

- 1997 Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, WA.

- 1996 Locus Gallery, St. Louis, MO.

- 1996 Lowinsky Gallery, New York, NY.

- 1996 Camera Obscura Gallery, Denver, CO.

- 1996 G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.

- 1996 Alexandra Palace, London, England

- 1996 Cannon Rotunda, Washington D.C.

- 1995 Photographic Image, Portland, OR.

- 1992 Silver Image Gallery, Seattle, WA.

- 1991 Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA.

 

Permanent Collections

 

- Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO.

- Los Angeles County Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA.

- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.

- Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA.

- Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.

- Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME.

 

Awards