1932, Oct. 29Born, New York, N.Y.1955B.F.A., Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y.19551965Graphic designer for magazine layout and book design1964Photographed in Eastern Kentucky19651969Photographed American composers1968, Dec.1969, MarchExhibit: Eastern Kentucky and San Francisco: Photographs by William Gedney, Museum of Modern Art, New York1969, SummerDocumented work of the Social Security Administration, Hays, Kansas19691971Photographed in India19691989 (?)Adjunct Assistant Professor, Cooper Union, New York19711989(?)Assistant Professor, Pratt Institute, New York1972Photographed in Kentucky19781980Exhibit: Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960, Museum of Modern Art, New York1980Photographed in Calcutta, India1989, June 23Died, New York, N.Y.1990William Gedney collection of photography books and equipment presented to Chitrabani Center, Calcutta, India2000Large retrospective exhibition, Short Distances and Definite Places: The Photographs of William Gedney held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
William Gedney received the following fellowships and grants: a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship, 1966-1967; a Fulbright Fellowship for photography in India, 1969-1971; a New York State Creative Artists Public Service Program (C.A.P.S.) grant, 1972-1973; and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, 1975-1976.
Group shows in which Gedney's work was exhibited include Museum of Modern Art shows, Photography Current Report in 1968, Ben Schultz Memorial Collection in 1969, and Recent Acquisitions in 1971; Vision and Expression, George Eastman House, Rochester Institute of Technology, 1972. A major retrospective exhibit was held in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2000.
From the guide to the William Gedney Photographs and Writings, 1940s-1989, (Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)