Deana Lawson
Deana Lawson was born in Rochester, NY in 1979. She received her MFA in Photography from RISD in 2004. She currently lives and works in New York.
Lawson is an American photographer who creates images where the everyday is transformed into uncanny and magnificent experiences.
Her work revolves around issues of intimacy, family, sexuality, and religious aesthetics.
On the left: Eternity (2017)
Lawson meets her subjects in everyday walks of life: grocery stores, subway stations, and road trips taken to the
Deep South.
Lawson has also photographed internationally in Brazil, DR Congo, Haiti, and Ethiopia through the Guggenheim Fellowship which she received in 2013.
On the right: Cortez (2016)
Hellshire Beach Towel with Flies (2013)
Uncle Mack (2016)
Lawson composes almost every element of her images, often sketching scenes out on paper before working with the camera.
On the left: Roxie and Raquel (2010)
Lawson also refers to the subjects of her photos as “her family,” – yet they’re mostly all strangers. But this allows her to participate in their lives in an intimate way while photographing.
On the left: Sons of Cush (2016)
Her latest exhibition The Hugo Boss Prize 2020: Deana Lawson, Centropy is on view at the guggenheim until October 11.
Above: The Garden (2016)