CLOSING SOON! See "We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys" and "Oracle in the Aperture" through May 22nd!
"We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys" chronicles Brian Van Lau’s relationship with his estranged father. This series was spurred on by a proposition from Lau’s father: to collaborate on a series of photographs during their last week together, documenting an ultimately unsuccessful journey toward recovery.
For "Oracle in the Aperture", artists were selected, by @zerkalou / @arcanitepictures , to join with peers, personal influences, and emerging lens-based artists to amplify and enhance each other’s stories, emphasizing interpersonal and private relationships and the talismanic ability of photography to illuminate familial and gestural scenes.
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Brian Van Lau (b. 1996, Honolulu, HI) is a Vietnamese-American photographer based between Honolulu, HI, and Los Angeles, CA. His work often explores generational relationships, history, inheritance, and grief. His methods include connecting photographs of his own with other collected and appropriated materials.
Apply now to our 2027 artist-in-residence program!
Light Work invites between twelve and fifteen artists to Syracuse to devote one month to creative projects every year. Over 400 artists have participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program, and many of them have gone on to achieve international acclaim.
The residency includes a $7,500 stipend, a furnished artist apartment, 24-hour access to our state-of-the-art facilities, and generous staff support. Work by each Artist-in-Residence is published in a special edition of Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual, along with an essay commissioned by Light Work. Work by former Artists-in-Residence is also part of the Light Work Collection.
The deadline for 2027 residency applications is July 1st. Apply now through the link in our bio!
Image by 2024 resident, Yi Hsuan Lai
#lightworkair
Maia Chao, 1/2 of UVP’s 2026 Residential Commission awardee, has a performance happening in tandem with the 2026 Whitney Biennial this week!
Maia Chao is a Philadelphia-based artist whose collaborative work spans social practice, performance, and video. Her commissions include The Shed, MoMA Education, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. She has also presented work at the RISD Museum, Bronx Museum, Oregon Contemporary, Mural Arts Philadelphia, and Boston Center for the Arts. Chao has participated in residencies at Pioneer Works, Fine Arts Work Center, and Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. She was a 2022-23 Pew Fellow and is currently Public Artist-in-Residence at the Times Square Arts. She teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
In residence this July, Chao and Johnson’s (@erin_johnson____ ) work will be on view at UVP during our 2026-27 program year.
2026 FINE PRINT PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: KEISHA SCARVILLE
"This image was made specifically for my book, 'lick of tongue, rub of finger, on soft wound', where I explore how notions of belonging and identity are formed and structured. In the book, I interweave my images with archival imagery, passages from books, personal texts, and film stills to engage new genealogies and disrupt conventional, linear histories." -Keisha Scarville
The Fine Print Program makes collecting art and photography a very real possibility for anyone. And when purchasing a print our subscribers are participating in our mission of providing artists with the time and space needed to create new work.
These prints are from a limited edition of 50, numbered and signed by the artists. The editions were produced exclusively by Light Work as part of the 2026 Fine Print Program. Click the link in our bio to shop now!
Dean Majd (b. 1990) is a Palestinian-American self-taught, lens-based artist born and based in Queens, New York. Majd began forming his intimate and cinematic visual language after being given his first camera at seven years old by his mother. His diaristic work engages with violence as an imposed center-point of one’s life, focusing on repressed, negative emotions within contemporary masculinity in relation to addiction and self-destruction. His work also explores the complexities of the Arab-American dichotomy and the Palestinian diaspora against apartheid, and how they overlap.
Majd has been profiled by Aperture, MATTE Magazine, and AnOther Magazine. His editorial work has appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, The New Yorker, Dazed, and New York Magazine among others. He is passionate about cinema, immensely devoted to his friends, and a proud New Yorker. He believes that love, above all else, is the driving force behind everything he does.
deanmajd.com
🗓️ Postponed! The book launch & conversation for We’re Just Here For the Bad Guys with Brian Van Lau originally scheduled for next Thursday, May 7th will be postponed. Stay tuned for the new date TBA.
Learn more about the publication at the link in bio.
As the spring semester at Syracuse University is coming to a close, we are starting our summer lab hours this weekend. Visit us online 24/7 at lightwork.org!
Image: Lori Nix, "The Hilltop Series, Chain-Link Fence", 2001
With enormous pleasure, Light Work announces the finalists for Urban Video Project’s 2027 Residential Commission! The selection process was highly competitive with many outstanding proposals. Shortlist selection was made by a jury including Mira Adoumier, Nicolas Baird, and Light Work UVP program director, Anneka Herre.
Selected finalists include: Maya Jeffereis, Angelo Madsen, Jenny Perlin, Fred Schmidt-Arenales + Traci Hercher, and John Torres.
Getting to this stage of the competition proves these artists had an extraordinarily compelling proposal and work sample. Stay tuned for more announcements!
Read more about the shortlisted artists and our jury through the link in UVP's bio!
Apply now to our 2027 artist-in-residence program!
Light Work invites between twelve and fifteen artists to Syracuse to devote one month to creative projects every year. Over 400 artists have participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program, and many of them have gone on to achieve international acclaim.
The residency includes a $7,500 stipend, a furnished artist apartment, 24-hour access to our state-of-the-art facilities, and generous staff support. Work by each Artist-in-Residence is published in a special edition of Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual, along with an essay commissioned by Light Work. Work by former Artists-in-Residence is also part of the Light Work Collection.
The deadline for 2027 residency applications is July 1st. Apply now through the link in our bio!
Image by 2026 resident, Arhant Shresthra
#lightworkair
We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys and Oracle in the Aperture are on view at @lightworkorg in Syracuse, NY until May 22nd. Thank you to everyone who’s come to see it already, and very grateful for such a special opening to debut this work. Special thanks to @kozzy.jpeg for their incredible job printing both shows, and to @victr0n for the installation 🫶🏻
My book is available for pre-order and soon to be stocked in Los Angeles, and available at a special event in NYC coming soon.
With enormous pleasure, we present the 51st Annual Light Work Grants in Photography!
The 2026 recipients are Maureen Beitler, Hernease Davis, Ian Sherlock Molloy, Amrita Stützle, and Patty Tomanovich.
The Light Work Grants are part of our ongoing effort to support and encourage New York artists working in photography and related mediums outside of the New York City region. Read more about the recipients through the link in our bio!
A closing reception will be held on Friday, August 7th, from 5-7 PM.
See "We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys" and "Oracle in the Aperture" through May 22nd!
"We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys" chronicles Brian Van Lau’s relationship with his estranged father. This series was spurred on by a proposition from Lau’s father: to collaborate on a series of photographs during their last week together, documenting an ultimately unsuccessful journey toward recovery.
An accompanying photobook, also considered Contact Sheet #233, is now available for preorder through the link in our bio!
For "Oracle in the Aperture", artists were selected, by @zerkalou / @arcanitepictures , to join with peers, personal influences, and emerging lens-based artists to amplify and enhance each other’s stories, emphasizing interpersonal and private relationships and the talismanic ability of photography to illuminate familial and gestural scenes.
-
Brian Van Lau (b. 1996, Honolulu, HI) is a Vietnamese-American photographer based between Honolulu, HI, and Los Angeles, CA. His work often explores generational relationships, history, inheritance, and grief. His methods include connecting photographs of his own with other collected and appropriated materials.
Special thanks to Daylight Blue Media.
daylightblue.com
