Courtney Crawford is a first year photography graduate student. She moved to Chicago from Texas where she worked at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum in August 2013 to attend Columbia. Her work is most often about pain and trauma in her own life, both physical and emotional. It tends to be abstract, and constructed or staged. At present she is creating work that explores her relationship with her imprisoned father and what kind of genetic baggage his criminal nature has left in her. While she spends most of her time thinking about f-stops and shutter speeds she also enjoys creating a variety of art in other mediums. In her spare time she likes to contemplate art, journal about her life, discuss current events, practice playing cello, and shop for fabulous high heels.