Bill Beckley has been widely recognized as an important photographer for more than three decades, both in the United States and abroad. Born in Hamburg, Pennsylvania in 1946, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutztown State University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Beckley achieved recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979. He also served on the New York Council of the Arts in 1973, 1976 and 1986. He was awarded a grant from the prestigious Pollack-Krasner Foundation in 1997. Since that time, his work has been placed numerous prestigious collections, including that of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Guggenheim Museum in New York, as well as the Whitney Museum of American Art.