LOLA FLASH
Chantz, from Surmise Series..
About:
Flash was born in the United States and is of African/Native American descent. She spent 10yrs in London where she regularly exhibited her work and also attained her MA. A classic Flash photograph ‘Stay afloat, use a rubber’ is part of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum’s permanant collection.
Her early work explored notions of colour, sexuality and gender. Her technique relied on the use of cross colour processing in the dark room, an effect which aided her confrontational and questioning style (see the miscellaneous gallery). Cassell publishing used several of these cross-colour works for a series of book covers.
Dean, from (Sur)passing Series.
While still in London, Lola embarked on her [sur]passing series, inspired by tales of light skinned black people who would pass as ‘white’ during America’s period of segregation. She expanded the notion of passing to include sexuality and gender. The series carried on after her return to New York where she followed it on with her later series surmise.
Later works, quartet and scents of autumn, saw her move away from portraits and explore colour, light, decay, and what lies between.
As can be seen in her new work, Lola is currently working on images unconstrained by theme.
Lola is listed at autograph and en foco.
Kerri, Surmise Series.
About her work:
“When buying the ticket for the long train journey home, grandma would often take her place in the queue for white folks and get quicker and better service than the dark skinned blacks who would often have to wait longer….”
Kinki, (Sur)passing Series.
Lolas’ inspiration comes from her history, colour, pride, gender and from the found forms of urban living.
Her subject’s gaze often reflect a history vastly different from the expected norm, a gentle pride in being, sometimes hard fought for, they challenge the viewer to take a longer look at both the subject and hopefully themselves.
Later works include the series ‘quartet’, a look at how colour, decay, light and space in an urban environment defines its inhabitants. ‘scents of autumn’ looks at the textures and shapes of New York seasides and considers the distinctive light present during the fall.
While continuing her political and exploratory works defined through series such as [sur]passing and surmise, Lola has more recently embraced the freedom of photography without agenda.
Lola is available for commissioned work. (text website Lola Flash)
Toni Parks, from SALT series.
Copyright: Lola Flash