She is a graduate of Harvard University in the History of Art and Architecture, and she hold an M.A. in Art History and Criticism from Stony Brook University and a Ph.D. in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester. Her work on the history of photography, American art, and visual culture has appeared in Art Journal, American Quarterly, Criticism, The Velvet Light Trap, Photography and Culture, and the anthology Photography: Theoretical Snapshots (Routledge: 2009). She is currently completing a book titled The Social Life of Snapshot Photography.