Lola Flash

{{short description|American photographer (born 1959)|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Lola Flash

| image =

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1959}}

| birth_place = Montclair, New Jersey U.S.

| movement =

| field = Photography
Portraiture

| training = Maryland Institute College of Art
London College of Printing

| works =

| influenced_by =

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| website = {{URL|http://lolaflash.com}}

}}

Lola Flash{{cite news|last1=Flash|first1=Lola|last2=Shulman|first2=Sarah (interviewer)|last3=Wentzy|first3=James (interviewer)|title=Interview 091: Lola Flash|url=http://fds.lib.harvard.edu/fds/deliver/417792908/wid00003c00091.pdf|work=Act Up Oral History Project, A Program of The New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival|publisher=Harvard University|date= July 8, 2008|format=Oral history transcript}} (born 1959){{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=Emmanuel|title=The Sexual Perspective: Homosexuality and Art in the Last 100 Years in the West|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-11100-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sexualperspectiv0000coop/page/317 317–318]|edition=2nd|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sexualperspectiv0000coop/page/317|chapter=13.11: Lola Flash, AIDS Quilt – The First Year|oclc=976447467}} is an American photographer whose work has often focused on social, LGBT and feminist issues.{{cite news|title=Lola Flash|url=http://www.lightwork.org/archive/lola-flash/|work=Light Work|date=August 2008|language=en-us}} An active participant in ACT UP during the time of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, Flash was notably featured in the 1989 "Kissing Doesn't Kill" poster.{{cite news|last1=Manatakis|first1=Lexi|title=Lola Flash's photography immortalises queer, black New Yorkers|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/38778/1/shooting-life-as-a-queer-black-woman-in-80s-new-york|work=Dazed|date= January 25, 2018|language=en}}

Flash's art, which is rooted in community advocacy, is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.{{Cite news |title=Photographer Lola Flash is honored for creating images that challenge invisibility |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/12/14/1063846092/lola-flash-photography-queer-art |access-date=2022-03-11}}La Gorce, Tammy. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/nyregion/how-lola-flash-photographer-spends-her-sundays.html How Lola Flash, Photographer, Spends her Sundays]." New York Times. June 25, 2021.

Early life and education

Flash was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey by two school teachers.{{cite news|title=Lights, Camera, Flash!|first=Juliet |last=Macey| url=http://gomag.com/article/lights_camera_flash146308/|work=GO Magazine|date= May 23, 2016}} She is of African American and Native American backgrounds and is the fourth generation on her mother's side to grow up in Montclair. Her great-grandfather, Charles H. Bullock, as well as her great-grandmother, taught at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.{{cite news|title=Soundboard: Lola Flash|url=http://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/lola-flash-interview.mp3|work=WTJU|date=2013|format=Audio interview}} Bullock also founded the first black YMCA in Montclair, as well as others in Brooklyn, Virginia, and Kentucky. Her given name is in honor of her paternal great-grandmother.

Flash began taking pictures as a young girl, eventually doing student portraits for the high-school yearbook, as well as taking other pictures.

Flash graduated from Montclair High School. After graduating, she went to college to study science and photography hoping to be a science photographer, but decided to transfer schools to focus on art.{{Cite web |title=Envisioning the Future, with Lola Flash – The Answer is No Podcast |url=https://theanswerisnoshow.com/envisioning-the-future-with-lola-flash/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=theanswerisnoshow.com}} In 1981, she received a B.A. from Maryland Institute College of Art, where she studied with Leslie King-Hammond.{{cite web|url=http://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/exhibitions/contemporary-gallery/2013-exhibitions/lola-flash/|title=Lola Flash: (sur)passing|website=Jefferson School African American Heritage Center|language=en-US|date=June 2013}}{{Cite web |last=Flash |first=Lola |title=LinkedIn Page |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/lola-flash-47188110/}} Flash later received an M.A. from London College of Printing.

Career

After attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, Flash used negatives and inverted color schemes in her photography. Unlike most photojournalists, she used slide film and developed her photographs on negative paper. This altered the colors in the photos, meant to show the viewer that they had been taught to view the world in a specific way. Her early work had a focus on social and political issues that included works related to the AIDS epidemic. Starting in the summer of 1987, Flash was very active in ACT UP in New York City. In 1989, Flash and Julie Tolentino appeared with several other couples in Gran Fury's ""Kissing Doesn't Kill" PSA poster. This poster, which appeared on billboards, buses, and subway platforms in many cities, used the style of Benetton's United Colors campaign to call out bigotry and complacency regarding HIV/AIDS.

In the 1990s, Flash moved to London and got her MFA from the London College of Printing. While there, she covered events for a gay publication. She also started exploring different themes through traditional portraiture.Gonzalez, David. "Beauty, Pride and Power in Photos by Lola Flash." The New York Times. March 8, 2018. Flash remained in London for eight years, working for alternative lifestyle publications.{{Cite web |last=Digital |first=Mark Lyndersay, Lyndersay |title=The Lola Flash portrait {{!}} Notes about Photography |url=https://lyndersaydigital.com/brain/pix_files/http://www.lyndersaydigital.com/brain/pix_files/lola_flash.html |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=Lyndersay Digital |language=en}}

Flash was part of the Art Positive artist collective.

Flash's next work was two photography series at Alice Yard in Woodbrook, Port of Spain: Scents of Autumn, The Quartet series.{{cite book|editor1-last=Zimmerman|editor1-first=Bonnie|editor2-last=Haggerty|editor2-first=George|title=Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures|date=2000|publisher=Garland|location=New York|isbn=978-0-815-33354-8|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/848396108|language=en|oclc=848396108|pages=60–61}}{{cite news|last1=Lyndersay|first1=Mark|title=The Lola Flash portrait|url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2015-08-07/lola-flash-portrait|work=Trinidad and Tobago Guardian|date=August 7, 2015}} During this time Flash also appeared in the Gran Fury collective's "Kissing Doesn't Kill" campaign, posters of which featured images of LGBT people kissing in an effort to destigmatize and educate about AIDS. The posters appeared on billboards and on the sides of buses.{{cite news|last1=Kalin|first1=Tom|url=https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/03/28/nightclubbing/|title=MoMA: Nightclubbing|website=Museum of Modern Art|language=en|date=March 28, 2011}}

Flash's newer work has focused on issues such as how skin color impacts black identity and gender fluidity. She has frequently photographed members of the LGBT community, including a pride exhibit called LEGENDS that portrays members of the New York City LGBT community.

In a recent project "SALT," Lola Flash focuses on women over the age of seventy who remain active in their field. Her subjects, who are portrayed in classical portrait-style photographs, are often unheralded women who range from artists and activists to real estate agents, singers and designers; however, some notable women, like Agnes Gund, were incorporated into the series.{{cite news|last1=Frank|first1=Priscilla|title=Photography Series Spotlighting Iconic Women Over 70 Proves The Best Is Yet To Come|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/lola-flash-photos_n_7172994.html|work=Huffington Post|date= May 4, 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://culturepop.com/photography/aged-to-perfection-photographer-focuses-on-70-and-over-women/|title=Photographer Lola Flash Focuses On Women Over 70|work=CulturePop|date=2015|language=en-US}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bronxmuseum.org/events/performance-and-tour-with-sur-rodney-sur-with-artand-positive-members-lola-flash-and-hunter-reynolds|title=Performance and tour with Sur Rodney (Sur) with Art+ Positive members Lola Flash and Hunter Reynolds. Art AIDS America exhibition tour with Lola Flash|website=The Bronx Museum of the Arts|date=October 8, 2016}}{{cite news|title=Lola Flash 2011|url=https://artmattersfoundation.org/grantees/lola-flash|work=Art Matters Foundation|date=2011|language=en}}

Flash's photography is featured in the 2009 book Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present.{{cite book|last1=Willis|first1=Deborah|title=Posing Beauty: African American Images, from the 1890s to the Present|date=2009|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-393-06696-8|oclc=310224903|url=https://archive.org/details/posingbeautyafri00will}}

Flash's 2018 solo show, Lola Flash: 1986 – Present, is a 30-year retrospective, spanning three decades of influential works curated for exhibition at Pen + Brush in New York City.{{cite web|access-date=2022-03-11|title=Lola Flash|url=http://www.penandbrush.org/exhibitions/lola-flash|website=PEN + BRUSH}} The show documents the beginnings of her work with her series about the AIDS crisis in New York City and extends through to the "critically lauded "SALT" and "[sur]passing" series."{{cite news|title=Lola Flash: 1986–Present|url=http://www.penandbrush.org/exhibitions/lola-flash|work=Pen + Brush|date=2018}}

In 2019, under the Center for Photography at Woodstock, Artist in Residence Program, Flash noted "I've been a committed artist for 40 years, now having finally gained a seat at the table."{{Cite journal|last=Turek|first=Anezka|date=May 2019|title=60 Seconds with Lola Flash|url=https://humboldt-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/sr8fcp/TN_proquest2218157113|journal=Gender Watch|pages=10|id={{ProQuest|2218157113}} }}

In Flash's current Afrofuturist series, "Syzygy, the vision," Flash transforms herself into an avatar "subjected to the horrors of racism, sexism and homophobia," and "experiencing moments of joy, envisioning a future where there is equity for all."{{Cite web |title=syzygy, the vision |url=http://www.lolaflash.com/syzygy |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=Lola FLASH |language=en-US}} Flash is a member of the Kamoige Collective and is on the board of Queer|Art.

Equipment and methodology

Flash began taking photographs using a Minox and then in high school she began shooting with a 35mm Yashica.{{cite news|last1=Mestrich|first1=Qiana|title=Photographer Interview: Lola Flash|url=http://dodgeburnphoto.com/2009/01/photographer-interview-lola-flash/|work=Dodge & Burn: Decolonizing Photography History|date= January 22, 2009}}{{cite web|last1=Osuji|first1=Nono|title=This Woman's Work: Lola FLASH, a profile of her photography|url=https://vimeo.com/19491266|website=This Woman's Work|language=en|format=Video|date=2000}}

Flash initially became known for using the cross-color technique of photography, which inverts colors.

Flash currently uses a Toyo-view camera using the 4×5 film format.

Personal life

Flash lives and works in Kips Bay, Manhattan. In addition to photography, Flash teaches visual arts and English Language Arts at the Williamsburg High School of Art and Technology.{{cite news|last1=Twersky|first1=Carolyn|title=A Photographer Who Has Spent Decades Capturing Queer Culture|url=https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/a-photographer-who-has-spent-decades-capturing-queer-culture.html|work=The Cut|date= January 25, 2018|language=en}}

Awards and honors

2008: Light Works, Artist residency (New York, NY)
2011: Art Matters Foundation, grant for travel to England, Brazil & South Africa
2015: Alice Yard, Artist residency (Woodbrook, Port of Spain){{cite news|last1=Laughlin|first1=Nicholas|title=Alice Yard: A conversation with Lola Flash|url=http://aliceyard.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-conversation-with-lola-flash.html|work=Alice Yard|date= July 23, 2015}}
2019: Woodstock, Artist residency (New York, NY){{Cite web|url=https://www.cpw.org/resources/artist-residencies/|title=Woodstock AIR Program|access-date=March 4, 2020|website=Artist in Residence: Woodstock}}
2021: Flash was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society{{cite web |last1=Padley |first1=Gemma |title=The lives and legacy of artist Lola Flash |url=https://rps.org/news/journal/2021/november/the-lives-and-legacy-of-artist-lola-flash/ |website=The Royal Photographic Society |access-date=17 June 2024 |date=3 November 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Lusina |first1=Anete |title=The Royal Photographic Society Unveils its 2021 Award Winners |url=https://petapixel.com/2021/10/26/the-royal-photographic-society-unveils-its-2021-award-winners/ |access-date=17 June 2024 |work=PetaPixel |date=26 October 2021 |language=en}}

Exhibitions

= Group exhibitions =

2016: Sur Rodney (Sur) with Art+ Positive members Lola Flash and Hunter Reynolds. Art AIDS America, The Bronx Museum of the Arts (Bronx, NY)
2022: Picturing Black Girlhood: Moments of Possibility, Express Newark.{{Cite web |last=NJ.com |first=Amy Kuperinsky {{!}} NJ Advance Media for |date=2022-02-23 |title=Black girls in focus, from 9 to 93, at Newark art exhibition |url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2022/02/black-girls-in-focus-from-9-to-93-at-newark-art-exhibition.html |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=nj |language=en}}

= Solo exhibitions =

2018: Lola Flash: 1986 – Present, Pen + Brush (New York, NY)

Collections

Flash's work is held in the following permanent collection:

1993: Stay Afloat, Use a Rubber, Victoria and Albert Museum{{cite web|title=Stay Afloat, Use a Rubber|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O212312/stay-afloat-use-a-rubber-photograph-flash-lola/|work=Victoria and Albert Museum|date=1993|language=en}}
2022: Cross Colour, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Filmography

2014: Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Publications

{{cite book|last1=Lichtenstein|first1=Rachel|last2=Flash|first2=Lola (photography by)|title=Keeping Pace: Older Women of the East End|date=2003|publisher=The Women's Library|location=London|oclc=428094803}}
Lola Flash. Believable: Traveling with My Ancestors. The New Press, (2023). With contributions by Renée Mussai, Jon Stryker, Jurek Wajdowicz.