Chuck Close was born in Monroe, Washington, in 1940 and pursued his education in visual art at Yale University. Photography has been an integral part of his painting process since the mid-1960s and later grew into a body of work in its own right that includes large-format Polaroids and daguerreotypes. Close has also distinguished himself as a master in the area of printmaking. Since 1967 his work has been the subject of more than 100 major exhibitions throughout the world.