Joanne Devereaux has lived and worked for over 20 years as a photographer in Boston, Massachusetts along with Pennsylvania and the Southeast. She has been living in Oakland, California since 2000.

Her documentary photographic series, Becoming American grew out of her personal interest in the immigrant experience. In 2005 she received authorization from USCIS San Francisco office to document ceremonies where foreigners become naturalized U.S. citizens. The series of photographs depict both the ceremony days when immigrants become naturalized citizens, as well as individual portraits with text of their personal stories.

In 2009 an exhibition of 50 photographs from her series, Becoming American was on display at the American Immigration Legal Foundation’s Washington DC headquarters. During the exhibit The Voice of America did an interview with her about the series for broadcast to their worldwide audience in 45 languages. The interview can be viewed at www.youtube.com

Prior to developing the documentary series Becoming American, Joanne did commercial photography specializing in large format architectural and landscape work. Her clients have included work for national architectural and engineering firms. While living in Boston, she was selected by the National Park Service to photograph historic sites on the Boston Freedom Trail depicting major sites from America’s early history. Her photographs have been exhibited in both galleries and museums and included in both corporate and private collections. Recently her photographs were added to the collection at the Library of Congress.

She is a graduate of Syracuse University and an American citizen.