Debbie Rasiel Bio

( bio / statement / work )

Debbie Rasiel is a photographer and art historian based in the New York area. She has worked for NGO’s in both New York and South Africa. In New York, her work for NGOs and privately funded advocacy organizations has documented the condition of inner-city youths and developmentally disabled adults. In South Africa she spent several years documenting a papermaking poverty relief program and an AIDS orphanage. Her photographs from South Africa are included in a book, “Women on Purpose,” funded by the Ford Foundation. Debbie has also written about and curated exhibitions for other artists, including a book and an exhibit on Dorothea Lange, and has taught workshops in creative expression in both South Africa and New York. She received a BFA from the University of Florida, her MA from Tufts University and has completed coursework toward a PhD at the City University of New York with a concentration in photography and contemporary criticism. Debbie has had extensive training in digital media at the International Center of Photography. Her photographs are in many collections, both private and public, including Rutgers University, the University of Johannesberg, and the ARC of Westchester.