Donna Cameron

Donna Cameron (born April 7, 1951) is a multicultural American New media art, film director, producer, writer and inventor. She is best known for the invention of cinematic paper-emulsion film (CPE), for which she was issued a U.S. patent in 2001. Her CPE multimedia films, photography and videos have been represented in exhibition Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
== Early life and education ==
Cameron was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, to Millie and Dr. Donald P. Cameron, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and U.S. Lab Science Advisor to the Space Station Program at Boeing Aerospace in Huntsville, Alabama.
Cameron began her BFA studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and later transferred to School of the Art Institute of Chicago to complete her BFA with a major in film, graduating in 1980. Cameron continued her education studying multiple disciplines across media arts, including black and white at the atelier of, where she studied painting.
In 2009, Cameron earned an MPS in inter-telecommunications at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and in 2019 she earned an MA in Cinema Studies from the College of Arts and Sciences at New York University.
== Professional career ==
Cameron was first noted for her creative use of paper fiber film emulsion technology, utilized in her films, multimedia and photography art since 1978.
In 2001, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Cameron a patent for her invention of "Cinematic Paper Emulsion" (CPE). The technology and its methodology have been discussed in the Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas (film critic) and in the Reading Eagle by Tony Lucia. Her works have also been referenced in several books culminating in a self-titled monograph published in 2007 by Spuytenduyvil Press.
=== Early work (1970–1992) ===
In 1988, Cameron premiered her film "NEWSW" at the Museum of Modern Art. Her films would become featured again at the museum's Cineprobe Series, starting in 1991.
From the 1980s through the 2000s, Cameron's works continued to be exhibited across New York's art scene, including premieres and exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Whitney Museum|The Whitney Museum, and The Clocktower Gallery. Cameron's works in this era were distributed in the United States and France by Canyon Cinema, The Film-Makers' Cooperative and Light Cone Film Distributors.
Cameron wrote for the Miami Herald in the late 1970s, and subsequently wrote, produced and directed several documentary films, including "Confidential, Do Not Duplicate", a documentary about the unsolved murder of her youngest sister. The film was released in 1991 and premiered at "What's Happening", a documentary program hosted at MoMA in 1992.
=== Current work (1993-) ===
From 1987-1993, Cameron produced and directed "Shirley Clarke in Our Time", an experimental film about the life of filmmaker Shirley Clarke. The film premiered at MoMA in 1993 and additional screenings of Cameron's films were featured in a MoMA Cineprobe program in 1996.
In 2000, "Shirley Clarke in Our Time" was screened at "MoMA 2000: Making Choices", in a Department of Film program entitled "Home Movies and More".
In 2005, Cameron created "The Orensanz Portfolio", an ongoing portrait of artist Angel Orensanz at work. Two years later at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, Cameron's CPE films and documentaries were featured at La Galleria Ca' Rezzonico.
Cameron's art and photography have been featured in gallery across the United States, including Gallery 1871 in Chicago and Gallery Plan B in Washington, DC.
In 1993, Cameron began teaching NYU's New York University Tisch School of the Arts, a position she holds to this day. During her tenure, Cameron was contracted to develop and teach several original courses for the school, including the school's first multimedia production workshop in the Department of Film and Television in 1997. She also assisted in the development and teaching of the first Collaborative Arts Workshop at Tisch in 2016.
Cameron currently teaches "Politics of Portraiture", an original course that she wrote and has continuously developed at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts' Department of Collaborative Arts/Open Arts.
== Awards ==
Cameron is the recipient of three MacDowell (artists' residency and workshop) Colony Fellowships (1998, 1999, 2000) and two Jerome Foundation Fellowships (1980, 1991) for her portfolio in Film, Video and Photography. She was named the 1998-1999 Elodie Osborne Film/Video fellow, She was awarded a Jurors' Choice Award (1991), and a Jurors' Citation Award (1994 and 1996) at the Black Maria Film Festival.
== Journalism and writings ==
Cameron has been a frequent web writer, art reviewer, interviewer, newsletter, brochure and flyer designer, print journalist and photographer for various publications, including Manhattan Artshttps://www.manhattanarts.com, The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film, and the Miami Herald Newspaper.
==In the media==
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Category:1951 births
Category:American inventors
Category:People from Mishawaka, Indiana
Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni