“My goal is to find something that takes your breath away… I dream to shoot my vision of spirit and soul. I set out to take portraits that capture women in their greatest beauty and truth, whatever that may be.” – Claiborne Swanson Frank
Claiborne Swanson Frank was born in Naples, Florida. Her early years were split between Florida and London, and her adolescence was spent in San Francisco. Her family owns and operates Swanson Vineyards, located in the Napa Valley. Claiborne is a self-taught photographer who spent the bulk of her twenties working in the fashion industry. She moved to New York in 2007 and worked at Vogue under Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. She left the magazine before her marriage to James Frank in 2009. Shortly thereafter, she began to pursue her life-long dream of a career in photography. In 2010 she exhibited her first body of work, “Indigo Light,” a collection of portraits of women in her life which served as her inspiration for her debut book, American Beauty (Assouline, Spring 2012). American Beauty is Claiborne’s vision of modern American beauty and style. The book features over 100 portraits of American women that celebrates America’s new creative guard. A selection of portraits from the book will be showcased in her first solo exhibit at Lu Magnus Gallery in Manhattan in Spring 2012.
Claiborne is a contributing photographer at Vogue and resides in Manhattan with her husband James and their dog Blue.