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gallery lauren henkin portfolios |
Lauren Henkin
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1974, award-winning photographer Lauren Henkin grew up in Maryland. In 1996, after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, she moved home to Maryland and began working as an architect. During the next 10 years, she worked as the public programs manager for the Corcoran Gallery of Art, book designer for Dumbarton Oaks, and creative director for an international leisure management firm.
Although much of her photographic knowledge is self taught, Henkin has furthered her fine arts education by studying under photographers Chan Chao, Gordon Hutchings, Tyler Boley, and George Tice.
She states, “I think a big part of what I hope to do is give a formality to very informal subjects. To pay attention to things we see everyday — a blanket drying on a line, a dry cleaning store people walk past everyday, a group of mailboxes, or yard sale. The fun for me in taking pictures is when I am able to look closer, recognize the beauty that is present everywhere, and then be able to share that vision with others."
Artist statement
The first time I picked up a camera with any intention beyond taking a snapshot, I was 16. I was walking the streets of New York City on a vacation with my family. I recently revisited those 35mm negatives. It was amazing to see interest then in the same things as now. There was a consistent emphasis on relationships—how the manmade and natural environment coexist; how the space we occupy is often overlooked and undervalued; and how interesting it is to flatten three dimensions into two. With photography, I am able to look at the world in ways I am unable to with my bare eyes, to evaluate things with a higher level of clarity and hopefully, appreciation.
I primarily shoot with 4x5 large format and 6x6 medium format film cameras. Shooting this way is an unhurried process. I am checking exposure with every image. I am taking my time, slowly moving around a potential subject until I have found what it was that drew me to it in the first place. The deliberateness of working this way has taught me how to be patient, how to wait for the subject to draw you in, how to carefully extract what you need from it.
There are so many aspects of photography that fascinate me. But what gives me the most pleasure is to be able to take the ordinary, an afghan drying on a line outside or a row of mailboxes planted on a gravel road, and show them in a way that I can only see at that moment. A way to say, “This is the beauty I see in the world at this moment in time.” This is why I take pictures; to be able to see the elegance in the most ordinary pieces of our world and then to be able to share it.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1974, award-winning photographer Lauren Henkin grew up in Maryland. In 1996, after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, she moved home to Maryland and began working as an architect. During the next 10 years, she worked as the public programs manager for the Corcoran Gallery of Art, book designer for Dumbarton Oaks, and creative director for an international leisure management firm.
Although much of her photographic knowledge is self taught, Henkin has furthered her fine arts education by studying under photographers Chan Chao, Gordon Hutchings, Tyler Boley, and George Tice.
She states, “I think a big part of what I hope to do is give a formality to very informal subjects. To pay attention to things we see everyday — a blanket drying on a line, a dry cleaning store people walk past everyday, a group of mailboxes, or yard sale. The fun for me in taking pictures is when I am able to look closer, recognize the beauty that is present everywhere, and then be able to share that vision with others."
Artist statement
The first time I picked up a camera with any intention beyond taking a snapshot, I was 16. I was walking the streets of New York City on a vacation with my family. I recently revisited those 35mm negatives. It was amazing to see interest then in the same things as now. There was a consistent emphasis on relationships—how the manmade and natural environment coexist; how the space we occupy is often overlooked and undervalued; and how interesting it is to flatten three dimensions into two. With photography, I am able to look at the world in ways I am unable to with my bare eyes, to evaluate things with a higher level of clarity and hopefully, appreciation.
I primarily shoot with 4x5 large format and 6x6 medium format film cameras. Shooting this way is an unhurried process. I am checking exposure with every image. I am taking my time, slowly moving around a potential subject until I have found what it was that drew me to it in the first place. The deliberateness of working this way has taught me how to be patient, how to wait for the subject to draw you in, how to carefully extract what you need from it.
There are so many aspects of photography that fascinate me. But what gives me the most pleasure is to be able to take the ordinary, an afghan drying on a line outside or a row of mailboxes planted on a gravel road, and show them in a way that I can only see at that moment. A way to say, “This is the beauty I see in the world at this moment in time.” This is why I take pictures; to be able to see the elegance in the most ordinary pieces of our world and then to be able to share it.