“I have always taught in a way that is very reflective of whatever my current research is in the studio,” said Photography MFA Program Faculty Director and Associate Professor Katherine Hubbard. “What are the things that are a part of my practice that I feel I can teach that are really unique to my work?” As Hubbard digs into her second year at Pratt, she is thinking about the relationship between her own creative practice and her role as an educator. “I have chosen the path of teaching because I care about other people and I care about ideas tremendously.”
In addition to teaching, Hubbard has just completed installing two major international exhibitions, including Secession in Vienna (accompanied by the production of her catalog One Fifty One) as well as at Studio Voltaire in London, which opened at the beginning of October. The exhibitions present a five-year project called The Great Room, an intimate portrait of Hubbard’s relationship with her mother and a meditation on our physical bodies, caregiving, and the passage of time, all in relationship to photography and a discourse of ethics.
“I started the project during COVID because my mom started to exhibit signs that she was unwell, and she was later diagnosed with something that goes by the acronym LATE, as well as dementia,” said Hubbard. “I became my mom’s primary caretaker, and I also started making photographs with her, and I continued to make photographs with her through the process of emptying the house, downsizing, and selling the house.” In 2025, Loose Joints Press published a photography book of the resulting images.
The Artist-Inventor
In addition to making representational photographs with large-format 4’x5” film cameras, Hubbard also experiments with alternative processes in the darkroom. For The Great Room, she made full-body prints with her mother in the dark room. “It’s sort of like when you take a sip of a wine glass and you catch the imprint of your lips from your chapstick on the wine glass,” she said, describing the way the image forms.
With Hubbard’s personal practice currently featuring experimental photographic methods, she is excited to offer alternative approaches to her students as well. On her list: a darkroom course on the “artist-inventor.” “We would cast away the camera,” she explained. “If you have light and you have a light sensitive material, you can be outside at night under the moonlight. You can be in a bathroom somewhere with towels shoved under the door. You can be using your phone. You can be using flashlights. You can be using all kinds of light as a source for exposure.”
Whether a student is interested in experimental methods, commercial photography, or anything in between, Hubbard’s goal is to help them contemplate their practice more deeply. “One of the things that I like the most about the students at Pratt is their incredibly diverse approach to photography,” she said. “Photography means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and part of the work of education is to help each person to think really expansively about its potential,” she said. The program is designed to help students evolve as creators and to provide a theoretical and historical framework so they can understand their own practice as it evolves.
Photography Chair Tori Purcell has seen firsthand Hubbard’s commitment to her work—both as an artist and as an educator. “Katie’s dedication to her students is unmatched. She intentionally and thoughtfully brings her studio practice into the classroom, modeling the depth of research and investigation that goes into her visual works.” she said “Pratt Photography is lucky to have her vision guiding the MFA Program into its next chapter.”
Hubbard joined Pratt in 2025, giving her an opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues and to form new connections with Pratt students and alumni. “New York is really where all of my community is and where my network of artists is. And I had forgotten how meaningful that is,” she said. “The students are brilliant and dedicated and they’ve been very welcoming. There is a real sense of community.”
Hubbard also had the chance to be on campus for former Photography Chair Shannon Ebner’s final year in the role. “I have been a huge follower of Shannon’s work for a really long time, and I was really happy to work with her during her last year as chair of the department,” she said. Now, with Purcell stepping into the role as photography chair, Hubbard is excited about what lies ahead. “Having Tori as our next chair of the Photography Department is a gift. She is a natural leader with many years of institutional history and knowledge to draw upon,” said Hubbard. “Tori understands and values art education and pedagogy and she is a huge advocate for the faculty and the students within the MFA program.”
The Year to Come
With the fall semester in full swing, the department’s annual Talk Series is top of mind. “Anyone you ask will say that the photo talk series at Pratt is one of the best talk series in the city,” said Hubbard. Also upcoming is the second annual Photography Commons event, featuring a panel conversation with representatives from nonprofit organizations including Dancing Foxes Press, the Bronx Documentary Center, and ICP Public Programs. The event takes place during the Photography MFA Open Studios at Dock 72 on November 7, 2026. During Open Studios, students welcome the public to visit their dedicated studio spaces, sharing their works-in-progress and discussing their practice with other artists, professionals, and community members. Pratt Photography’s second-year student exhibition will also be on view during Open Studios. This year’s show, WE ONCE WERE / OF THIS PLACE, is curated by Adjunct Professor Sara VanDerBeek.
Access to these types of experiences, expansive studios at Dock 72, and a community of peers shape the graduate experience, said Hubbard. “Those resources are real, and having access to all of those things simultaneously for a two-year period will change your work, and it will change your life.”
