Featured Bennett Gallery artist Thea Traff ‘09 has photographed many celebrities, including Post Malone, the Rolling Stones, Jessica Chastain, and Billy Joel. All these photographs hang in the Bennett Gallery this fall, but one notable person she’s photographed isn’t featured: President Joe Biden. Rumors circulated that the photo of Biden was withheld for political reasons, but that rumor has been debunked. Bennett Gallery curation team member Margaux Henderson ‘25 clarified, “That was actually more of an aesthetic reason than any political reason.”

For this show, the committee gave Traff input on what photos she wanted to include. Henderson shared, “This show was more her decision because she’s the artist, and it’s her show.” As for the supposed controversy, Henderson said, “When we’re hanging artwork, we don’t really care about the background of it because art is art… The main reason was that everyone else she photographed in the gallery was either scientists or artists, and we just felt that the portrait was kind of out of place in the gallery.”

Traff photographed Biden in the Oval Office in March for “The New Yorker.” She had 20 hours to get on a plane to get to the White House for the shoot. Traff explained, “I was allowed to shoot Biden as he was conducting the interview with the reporter.” The style of photography was also very different: “So much of my work is using the flash and directing the people. So I was really out of my wheelhouse in a way that was super challenging but brought a lot of growth in new techniques.” The photo, along with many others, is available on her website (theatraff.com).