{{Short description|American photographer and educator (1940–2019)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox artist | name = David Akiba | birth_name = David Cohen | birth_date = {{birth date|1940|10|7}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|8|24|1940|10|7}} | death_place = | education = {{plainlist| * University of Massachusetts Amherst (BA) * Rhode Island School of Design (MFA) }} | known_for = Landscape photography | notable_works = ''Through the Lens: A Separate Journey'' | employer = {{plainlist| * Babson College * Emerson College * New England School of Photography }} | movement = | awards = | website = }} '''David Akiba''' (October 7, 1940 – August 24, 2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://today.emerson.edu/2019/08/26/photography-faculty-member-david-akiba-remembered-as-calm-patient-gifted/|title=Photography Faculty Member David Akiba Remembered as Calm, Patient, Gifted|date=2019-08-26|website=Emerson College Today|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=david-akiba&pid=193732858&fhid=8784|title=Obituary Levine Chapels: David Akiba|date=26 August 2019|website=Legacy.com|publisher=The Boston Globe}}</ref> was an American photographer and educator who lived and worked in Boston, best known for his landscape photography.
== Early life == His name at birth was David Cohen, but when he was a young man he changed his name because there was already a photographer with that name. He was born in Boston but grew up in Winthrop, Massachusetts.
=== Education === He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1961. He began making photographs in 1969. He went on to study with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at the Rhode Island School of Design, and he received a Master's in Fine Arts from there in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Poetry in the focus of Akiba's world|url = https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-20369109.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160220202452/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-20369109.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2016-02-20|website = HighBeam Research|accessdate = 2015-12-16|publisher = The Boston Globe}}</ref>
== Career == He worked in several formats both in documentary style and in manipulated imagery when he re-photographed his own photographs and then used copy machines to create distortions that heightened the emotional content of the photograph.
In 1985, Akiba received a MassProductions grant to photograph the Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace park system for two years, which led to a series of related exhibitions once the work was completed.<ref>{{Cite web|title = David Akiba|url = http://www.babson.edu/Academics/faculty/profiles/Pages/akiba-david.aspx|website = Babson College|accessdate = 2015-12-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222122205/http://www.babson.edu/Academics/faculty/profiles/Pages/akiba-david.aspx|archive-date = 2015-12-22|url-status = dead}}</ref>
In 2005, Akiba completed the work ''Through the Lens: A Separate Journey.'' This work is a photographic diary of his son Jonah becoming a Hassidic Jew after being raised in a non-religious household and it shows the impact this transformation has had on David and his son Daniel. A few years prior, Daniel had created a critically acclaimed short documentary called ''My Brother's Wedding'', which featured some of his father David Akiba's photographs. They held several joint exhibitions of David's family photos alongside screenings of the video.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Two Brothers, Two Paths, One Photo Album|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2005-10-16|access-date = 2015-12-16|issn = 0362-4331|first = Johanna|last = Jainchill}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Editor's Picks, He ain't heavy, he's my brother|url = http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/events/galleries/documents/04503122.asp|website = Boston Phoenix|accessdate = 2015-12-16|date = 2005-03-04|publisher = Phoenix Media/Communications Group|last = Hopkins|first = Randi|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151010042629/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/events/galleries/documents/04503122.asp|archive-date = 2015-10-10|url-status = dead}}</ref>
His work has been exhibited widely at galleries in Boston and around the world, and is part of several permanent collections including in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Fogg Art Museum, Center for Creative Photography,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = David Akiba|url = http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/david-akiba-33732/profile.html|website = ArtFacts.net|accessdate = 2015-12-16}}</ref> DeCordova Museum,<ref name=":0" /> Brooklyn Museum and others.
Akiba's photographs of the MBTA were included in the photo book, ''Images of Rail: Boston’s Orange Line.''<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title = JP authors write Orange Line history book|url = http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2013/11/08/jp-authors-write-orange-line-history-book/|accessdate = 2015-12-16|website = Jamaica Plain Gazette|date = 2014-11-08}}</ref> These photographs were from 1985, when he was selected to be one of five photographers who photographed the Elevated Orange Line between Forest Hills and downtown Boston before its 1988 planned demolition.<ref name=":1" />
Akiba's work is included in Sinclair Hitchings's ''Art in Boston'' project which is part art collection and part research reference library for Boston-based art.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sinclair Hitchings's 'Art in Boston'|url = http://thephoenix.com/boston/arts/150516-sinclair-hitchingss-art-in-boston/|website = Boston Phoenix|accessdate = 2015-12-16|date = 2013-01-23|publisher = Phoenix Media/Communications Group}}</ref>
He taught part-time at Babson College, Emerson College, and the New England School of Photography.
== Personal life == David had six children<ref>{{Cite web|title = Thursday Spotlight: David Akiba|url = https://claralieu.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/thursday-spotlight-david-akiba/|website = Art Prof| date=19 April 2012 |accessdate = 2015-12-16|publisher = Clara Lieu}}</ref> from two marriages. He lived in Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston with his wife Jane (née Levin). Jane is a portrait photographer and also teaches at Emerson College.
David's son, Isaac Akiba, was a member of the Boston Ballet, becoming the first person from Boston's public school dance program to join the elite ballet troupe. David created a photo series inspired by the dancers.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Boston Ballet Soloist Prepares For The Nutcracker And His Next Act|url = http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/11/27/boston-ballet-soloist-prepares-for-the-nutcracker-and-his-next-act/|accessdate = 2015-12-16|first = Lisa|last = Hughes|website = CBS Boston| date=27 November 2014 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102094540/http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2009/06/06/theres_poetry_in_the_focus_of_akibas_boston/ Article: ''Poetry in the focus of Akiba's world''] from The Boston Globe in June 2009 * [http://art.newcity.com/2010/09/27/review-david-akibaalibi-fine-art/ Art Review: David Akiba at Alibi Art] in September 2010 * [http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/david-akiba-33732/profile.html David Akiba] on ArtFacts.net
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akiba, David}} Category:1940 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Photographers from Boston Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni Category:Emerson College faculty Category:Babson College faculty Category:New England School of Photography faculty Category:People from Jamaica Plain Category:Jewish American photographers Category:21st-century American Jews