LAURA MCPHEE (b. 1958 New York, NY) is a photographer who has worked, most recently, in the woods of Idaho, the wilds of New York City, and the streets of Calcutta, India. Born in Manhattan, she grew up toward the end of a dirt road in central New Jersey. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design. She has received numerous awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Foundation Award and a Fulbright Fellowship. In addition to her own work, McPhee has collaborated with photographer VIRGINIA BEAHAN on various projects including No Ordinary Land. Her work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Center, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among other institutions. Her photographs are widely exhibited nationally and internationally. Her monograph River of No Return was published by Yale University Press in 2008 and a limited edition large format book Guardians of Solitude was released by Iris Editions in 2009. She currently teaches at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.