Laura Beth Reese
2024 Critical Mass Exhibition
#influenced
Apr 3 - 26, 2025
#influenced (2020-present) examines the ever-changing landscape of the internet and its impact on our culture. Using a large format camera, I photograph carefully constructed temporary installations that investigate the phenomenon that occurs at the intersection of social media, celebrity, and consumerism: the influencer. The subjects of the photographs are celebrities and influencers—like Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner—who have achieved fame by marketing and branding themselves, creating public personas designed for mass consumption. The scenes that I photograph are physical manifestations of the virtual worlds of Instagram and TikTok, built from handmade props, 2D cutouts, and mass-produced products promoted through online advertisements. I utilize the visual aesthetics of the internet and contemporary advertising to depict the frenzied online universe that invades our daily lives and shapes contemporary society. Through #influenced, I seek to understand my own obsession with celebrity and internet culture while exploring how they not only shape society but reflect it back to us in exaggerated, often distorted ways.
Laura Beth Reese (American, b. 1987, she/her) is an artist and pop culture connoisseur. She uses photography as a tool to explore her obsessions – from her ex-boyfriends to her biological mother to reality television. Her work has been exhibited nationally—most recently at Abakus Projects, the Photographic Resource Center, and the Pen + Brush Gallery. She is a 2025 recipient of the Grant for Creative Individuals from Mass Cultural Council and has been published in Boston Art Review, Paper Safe, and online at Cosmo.com and The Huffington Post, among others.
Reese was born in Iowa and raised on the east coast of the United States. She holds an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and a BA from Muhlenberg College. She resides in Boston where she has taught at Harvard University, Boston College, and currently works as a Studio Manager and Part-Time faculty member at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.