20 Questions with Lauren Shaw
An award-winning photographer and documentary filmmaker, Lauren Shaw retired from her position as professor in Visual and Media Arts in May, after 52 years at the College. The co-founder of New England Women in Photography, she has exhibited her work around the country. Likewise, her six documentaries have garnered national attention, with screenings at film festivals, on public television, and in educational institutions and museums.
1 What is your idea of perfect happiness? Family, Maine, working in my studio.
2 If you could study any field aside from your own, what would it be? Typography.
3 Whom do you most admire? Tilda Swinton, RaMell Ross, Pema Chodron.
4 What are three adjectives you’d use to describe Emerson? Eclectic, unique, engaging.
5 Where is your favorite spot at Emerson? In the classroom with my students.
6 Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Amazing.
7 What do you consider your greatest achievement? Parenting, teaching, being an artist.
8 What’s your greatest regret? I have none.
9 Who are your favorite writers? Mary Oliver, Rumi, Lucy Lippard, Rupert Sira, Alan Lightman.
10 What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the last year? Nickel Boys.
11 If you could have dinner with one person—alive or dead—who would it be? Tilda Swinton, Diane Arbus, or Pema Chodron.
12 If you could have any superpower, what would it be? To never get tired.
13 Coffee or tea? Coffee.
14 Beach or mountains? Neither, the lake!
15 Broadway or Hollywood? Broadway.
16 If you could spend 48 hours in any city around the globe, where would you go? Paris.
17 What song are you most embarrassed to love? “A Case of You,” by Joni Mitchell.
18 You’re stranded on an island. What three possessions would you not be able to live without? Paper, pen, and some music.
19 What is your motto? Expect the unexpected.
20 What’s the best thing about Emerson? The students.
Illustration by Klawe Rzeczy
