Bio
Deanna Dikeman was born in 1954 in Sioux City, Iowa, USA. She has photographed her midwestern family and surroundings since 1985, when she left a corporate job to try a photography class. She graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in Management. Deanna received the Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship in 1996, the United States Artists Booth Fellowship in 2008, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography in 2023.
Deanna Dikeman’s largest and longest photography project documented her parents and other family in her hometown. That work included 27 years of photographs of her parents waving goodbye to her as she left from visiting them. “A Photographer’s Parents Wave Farewell” was one of the top 25 stories of 2020 in The New Yorker. She has two books published by Chose Commune: Leaving and Waving in 2021 and Relative Moments in 2024. Leaving and Waving was a finalist for the 2021 Paris Photo/Aperture Foundation First PhotoBook Award and won the 2021 Prix Nadar awarded by the Association Gens d’Images in France. Photographs from Leaving and Waving have been exhibited at festivals, museums, and galleries in 13 countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.
Her work is included in the collections of many museums, including: the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri, FENIX Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, The Photographic Collection/ SK Stiftung Kultur foundation, Köln, Germany
Solo Exhibitions
2023 DEANNA DIKEMAN: LEAVING AND WAVING, The Polygon Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2022 Leaving and Waving: Deanna Dikeman, Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph, MO
2013 Leaving and Waving: 16 Good-byes, Gladstone Community Center Public Art Space, Gladstone, MO
2011 New Work from the Art Omi Residency, Truman State University Art Gallery, Kirksville, MO
2010 Leaving and Waving: Photographs by Deanna Dikeman, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedelia, MO
2006 Wardrobe, Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO
2002 Relative Moments, University Gallery, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS
2002 Photographs, 50 Minute Photo, Columbia, MO
2000 Home alone in the middle of the day, Rogers Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Upbringing, Indiana University Kokomo Downtown Gallery, Kokomo, IN
2019 Alumni Exhibition, Fine Art and Design Building, Johnson County Community College, OverlandPark, KS
2018 Welcome to the Neighborhood, La Esquina Gallery, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO
2018 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2018 Motherhood Unveiled: online at Don’t Smile and Stitches and Pics Gallery, Sackets Harbor, NY
2018 Show-Me States: A Survey of Missouri Photography, Curated by Matt Rahner, Evelyn E. Jorgenson Fine Arts Gallery, Moberly Area Community College, Moberly, MO
2018 Show-Me States: A Survey of Missouri Photography, Curated by Matt Rahner, Morris Gallery of Contemporary Art at Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
2018 The Curated Fridge Summer Show, Somerville, MA
2018 Food Salon, online juried exhibition at The Passporte
2017 Shadowland: Photographs from the Collection, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedelia, MO
2017 Family Salon, online juried exhibition at The Passporte
2017 Every Street, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO(details)
2017 Every Summer, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (details)
2016 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2016 Signs of Life, Lenscratch Blog Exhibition
2016 Heat, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Juried show by P&M Artworks, Kansas City, MO
2016 Making It Real: Instagram in Print, Vault Interiors, Madison, WI
2016 The Middle: Photo-based Works by Artists Living in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery, Lawrence, KS
2016 A Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks, Duke University, Durham, NC
2016 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2016 About Face: Contemporary Portraiture, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
2016 Weather Report, Trap Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2016 Cover to Cover: A Survey of Artist Members’ Photo Books, SF Camerawork, San Francisco,CA
2016 A Fair, University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery, Lawrence, KS
2016 Secret Salon, Spyn Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2016 Ed Ruscha Books & Co., Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY
2015 Heat, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Juried show by P&M Artworks, Kansas City, MO
2015 You People, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (details)
2015 Making It Real: Instagram in Print, Vault Interiors, Madison, WI
2014 The Middle: Photo-based Works by Artists Living in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery, Lawrence, KS
2014 A Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks, Duke University, Durham, NC
2014 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2013 About Face: Contemporary Portraiture, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
2013 The Indie Photobook Library @ PHOTOVILLE, "A Survey of Documentary Styles in early 21stcentury Photobooks." Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Uplands of Pier 5, NY
2013 Weather Report, Trap Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2013 Cover to Cover: A Survey of Artist Members’ Photo Books, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
2013 A Fair, University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery, Lawrence, KS
2013 Secret Salon, Spyn Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2013 Ed Ruscha Books & Co., Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY
2012 Screening Collaboration, ASA Collective, London, United Kingdom
2012 The Frontier, Paragraph Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2012 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2012 DIY: Photographers and Books, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
2012 Show Me Imaging Missouri, Davis Art Gallery, Stephens College, Columbia, MO
2012 A Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks: Selections from the IndiePhotobook Library, Gallery Carte Blanche, San Francisco, CA
2012 Evolution of Photo Book-Making, Fotofocus, Mercantile Library, Cincinatti, OH
2011 Pushing Paper, O'Connor Art Gallery, Dominican University, River Forest, IL
2011 ABC Artists’ Books Cooperative, Printed Matter, New York, NY
2011 Naked City Gallery, Wichita, KS
2011 Instant Coffees Photography Projections, Session 2, Bristol, United Kingdom
2011 Twin Towers Postcard Show, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Indie Photobook Library at PhotoLucida, Portland, OR
2010 The Women’s Show, Hagedorn Foundation Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2010 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2010 Fourth of July, Lenscratch Blog Exhibition
2009 Blue, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT
2008 Beyond the Backyard, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
2008 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2007 Relative Closeness: Photographs of Family and Friends, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
2006 Domestic Diaries: Photographic Viewpoints, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
2006 Charlotte Street Foundation Awards, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2005 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2004 Contemporary Photography from the Hometown of Edgar Snow, Beida University, Beijing, China
2004 Current Works 2004, Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO
2004 Forwarding Address, Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO
2004 Photos@LulaMac, Lula Mac, Kansas City, MO
2004 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2004 59th Juried Exhibition, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA
2003 Missouri 50, Missouri State Fair, Sedelia, MO
2003 Sub Urbia, Hinsdale Center for the Arts, Hinsdale, IL
2003 IMProVision, Urban Culture Project, Kansas City, MO
2003 River Market Regional Exhibition, Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO
2003 Visions 2003, First National Bank, Columbia, MO
2002 Big and Beautiful, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2002 Side by Side, Dolphin Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2002 TPS 11: The National Competition, The Texas Photographic Society, Austin, TX
2002 Subluna, Shaw Hofstra, Kansas City, MO
2002 Hands On: The Making of Art, The Faculty of MU’s Craft Studio, Ragtag Cinemacafe, Columbia, MO
2002 Visions 2002, First National Bank, Columbia, MO
2001 Best of Show, Gallery 1401, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2001 Vivid, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
2001 Kansas City Flatfiles, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
2001 A House Is Not a Home, Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
2001 Photo Base: JCCC Collection, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
2001 Full Exposure, Trish Higgins Fine Art, Wichita, KS
2001 Road Show, St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis, MO
2000 Snapshot, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD
2000 Missouri 50, Missouri State Fair, Sedelia, MO
2000 Photospiva 2000, Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO
2000 Women in the Arts, Brady Commons Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2000 Visions 2000, First National Bank, Columbia, MO
2000 Craft Studio Faculty Exhibition, Craft Studio Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2000 The American Dream, Legacy Art & Bookworks, Columbia, MO
Selected Press
“Vestiges des Jeaux Heureux.” M Le Magazine du Monde. Le Portfolio, March 13, 2021. p. 52-61. Text by Roxana Azimi.
Harpers Magazine, April 2021, p. 96.
Country Living, November 2020, “Home is… Parents waving goodbye at the end of the drive.” p. 75.
D, weekly magazine of la Repubblica, Italy, 2020.
DUMMY, Issue 67, 2020.
VOSTOK, Issue 21, 2020, p. 213-223.
theo, 2020.
New York Times, T Magazine, Culture Therapist: “How can I say good-bye to my city in the middle of a pandemic?” April 28, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/t-magazine/coronavirus-relocating-moving.html
Der Tagesspiegel Sonntag, April 19, 2020, “Lebt wohl!”, text by Susanne Kippenberger, p. 7.
The New Yorker, March 4, 2020, online Photo Booth, “A Photographer’s Parents Wave Farewell,” text by Eren Orbey. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/a-photographers-parents-wave-farewell
The Sun, February 2019
“Deanna Dikeman: Sprinklers, Birdbaths and Puddles.” KC Studio, Artist Pages, p. 112-119. September/October 2018, Volume X, Issue 5. Text by Alice Thorson.
De Volkskrant Observatorium, “21 jaar uitzwaaien.” p. 22-23. December 29, 2012. Text by Rob Gollin.
Leaving and waving: Photographs by Deanna Dikeman, Daum Museum of Art, Sedelia, Missouri, 2011. Essay by Thomas Piché, Jr., Museum Director.
New Letters, Volume 74, No. 4, 2008
Ten. Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri. 2007. Essay by Raechell Smith. p. 46-47.
Fotophile, #49, 2005
NOON, 2005
DoubleTake (accepted for publication, but never printed because they ceased publishing) 2003
Radio interview with Laura Spencer, KCUR, Kansas City, Missouri, September 6, 2002
The Sun, January 2002
The Sun, November 2001
The Photo Review, Summer 2001
Blue Sky #31 & 32, 2001
Current Works 99 Exhibition Catalog, Society for Contemporary Photography
Review, August 1999, “Summer in the City,” curated by James Brinsfield
New Letters, Volume 63 No. 3, 1997
Photospiva 95 Exhibition Catalog, Spiva Center for the Arts
Borderline, 1994 (front and back cover photographs)
Current Works 94 Prospectus, Society for Contemporary Photography
Photo Metro, November 1992 (cover photograph)
Current Works 92 Exhibition Catalog, Society for Contemporary Photography
Photospiva 92 Exhibition Catalog, Spiva Center for the Arts
Architectural Record, April 1989
Selected Honors & Awards
2023 = John Simon Guggenheim Fellow
2011 = Art Omi Charlotte Street Foundation Fellowship to Art Omi International Artists Residency, Ghent, New York.
2011 = ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Grant to attend Art Omi International Artists Residency.
2009 = Creative Capital, Professional Development Workshop, Kansas City, Missouri.
2008 = United States Artists Booth Fellowship
2006 = Charlotte Street Foundation Fellowship
1996 = Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship