Esther M. Choi’s work explores how systems of representation shape our understanding of nature, history, and cultural value. With a background in photography and architectural history and theory, her practice spans photography, time-based media, and publications.

Her artist’s book, Le Corbuffet (Prestel, 2019)—a conceptual cookbook critiquing the image economy—was a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Photography Award. Choi’s work has been exhibited internationally and featured in T: The New York Times Style Magazine, 032c, Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, Architect’s Newspaper, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Elephant, Tatler Asia, and others. In 2024, her photographs for T: The New York Times Style Magazine were nominated for an ASME National Magazine Award.

Choi's writing has been published in Artforum, Harvard Design Magazine, Perspecta, e-flux, Art Papers, Architectural Review, SSENSE, and the Journal of Architectural Education. She has also contributed to the edited volumes Hippie Modernism (Walker Art Center, 2015), Radical Pedagogies (MIT Press, 2022), and Reaper: Richard Hamilton and Sigfried Giedion (JRP Ringier, 2017). Choi is co-editor of Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else (MIT Press, 2010) and Architecture Is All Over (Columbia University Press, 2017).

She holds a PhD in Architectural History and Theory and Interdisciplinary Humanities from Princeton University, an MDes in Architectural History and Theory from Harvard Graduate School of Design, a MFA in Photography from Concordia University, and a BFA in Photography from Toronto Metropolitan University.

She was a 2022 Getty/ ACLS Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Art. Choi has taught at institutions including OCAD University and The Cooper Union. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.