Builder Levy

Builder Levy was born in Tampa, FL in 1942 and raised in Brooklyn. He received a BA in art from Brooklyn College, where he studied photography with Walter Rosenblum, who became a mentor and friend. Among numerous awards, he received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Alicia Patterson Foundation, National Endowment of the Arts. Levy published three monographs: Images of Appalachian Coalfields, Builder Levy Photographer, and Appalachia USA. His photographs figure in more than 80 collections, including that of Sir Elton John, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the International Center of Photography, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. He has had more than 250 exhibitions, including more than 60 one-person shows. His exhibition, Appalachia USA, opened at the Ringling Museum of Art in 2015, and has been travelling ever since.