Esther M. Choi’s work as an artist and writer 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.

Choi’s work has been exhibited internationally and featured in T: The New York Times Style Magazine, 032c, Elephant, and others. Her artist’s book, Le Corbuffet (Prestel, 2019)—a conceptual cookbook about cultural consumption—was a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Photography Award. In 2024, her photographs for T: The New York Times Style Magazine were nominated for an ASME National Magazine Award.

Choi is the co-editor of Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else (MIT Press, 2010) and Architecture Is All Over (Columbia University Press, 2017). Her writing has appeared in Artforum, Art Papers, Harvard Design Magazine, Perspecta, and e-flux. She has contributed to the edited volumes Hippie Modernism (Walker Art Center, 2015), Radical Pedagogies (MIT Press, 2022), and Reaper (JRP Ringier, 2017).

She is the creator of the socially engaged project Office Hours (2020–24)—a social sculpture grounded in knowledge-sharing—which was attended by several thousand artists, designers, and storytellers representing the global majority across more than 30 countries. She also created the four-part video series Public Service (2024–25), produced with support from the Ford Foundation.

Choi holds a PhD in Architectural History and Theory and Interdisciplinary Humanities from Princeton University, a 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.

Her research and projects have been generously supported by the Ford Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Graham Foundation, Society of Architectural Historians, American Council of Learned Societies, Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada, Harvard University, and Princeton University, among others.

Choi has taught at institutions including OCAD University and The Cooper Union. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.