I am a Filipino American photographer based in Brooklyn, New York City and the staff photographer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts documenting the prestigious institution's push towards greater accessibility and innovation in the arts.
My personal documentary work reckons with my inculcation into colonial and prevailing systems of power at times through the lens of my own indigenous Filipino ethnicity and assimilation into American society.
I also run Layer Studio NYC, a commercial photography practice with my wife, Sarah.
Lawrence Sumulong
(b.1987, Secaucus, NJ, USA)
Based in Brooklyn, NY, USA
Permanent Collections
The Brooklyn Museum Library
Duke University - Archive of Documentary Arts
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
The Museum of Modern Art Library
University of Arkansas - Special Collections
Commercial Clients
A&E, Ambush, American Express, AT&T, Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Carnegie Hall, Chelsea Factory, Dentsu: Merkle, Edelman, KIA, The Kingdom of Thailand, The High Line, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, LiveX, Momentum Worldwide, The City of New York - Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, New York Philharmonic, Phaidon Press, Reese’s Puffs, RDM, Rockwell Group, The Shed, Sony Music Entertainment, TED, United Nations, Verizon, Vogue, Willie Mae Rock Camp
Selected Publications
History of Violence | Fisheye Magazine
Carlo Maghirang Reimagines Philippine Folklore for the Lincoln Center | Vogue Philippines
On The Journey of Healing | Vogue Philippines
A Proposed State | The Washington Post
No longer can I stay; it's true. | The Washington Post
A Son of Immigrants Contemplates What His Life Might Have Been | The New York Times
Burying the Lead | The Sydney Morning Herald
Selected Exhibitions
No Longer Can I Stay; It’s True | Curator: Caitlin Margaret Kelly | Rubenstein Library Photography Gallery - Duke University, North Carolina (2023)
En Foco Resistance for Freedom | Curator: Kay Hickman | Hamilton Landmark Galleries, Manhattan, New York (2022)
Men of Change | Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, United States (2019 - 2023)
Promenades photographiques de Vendôme: Extrême-Orient | Curator: Stephane Damant | Manège Rochambeau, Vendôme, France (2020)
Not Visual Noise | Curator: Angel Velasco Shaw | Ateneo Art Gallery, Manila, Philippines (2019)
Gwangju Biennale | Curator: Clara Kim, Tate Modern | Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Hall and Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea (2018)
En Foco New Works Photography Fellowship | Curator: Leenda Bonilla | Gulf and Western Gallery, Manhattan, New York (2016)
Head On Photo Festival | aMBUSH Gallery: Project Space, Sydney, Australia (2016)
Traces - Contemporary Filipino Photography | Finale Art File, Manila, Philippines (2015)
From the Prison House | Curator: Tiffany Johnson Bidler | Moreau Center for the Arts - St. Mary's College, Indiana (2013)
Urban Legend | Curator: Patrick Flores | The Jorge B. Vargas Museum & Filipiniana Research Center, Manila, Philippines (2012)
Levee | Smith Gallery, Joe Rosenfield Center, Grinnell College, Iowa (2010)
Awards & Honors
American Photography: AP41 | Winner - Selected (2025)
Communication Arts: Photography | Shortlist (2024)
American Photography: AP40 | Winner - Chosen (2024)
American Photography: AP39 | Winner - Selected (2023)
Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Awards | Winner (2022)
American Photography: AP38 | Winner - Chosen (2022)
American Photography: AP37 | Winner - Chosen (2021)
American Photography: AP35 | Winner - Chosen (2019)
World Press Photo Foundation: Joop Swart Masterclass | Nominee (2017, 2019)
The Magenta Foundation: Flash Forward Award | Winner (2019)
Lucie Foundation: Fine Arts Scholarship | Finalist (2018)
En Foco Fellowship | Winner (2016)
Foundation of Contemporary Arts | Grantee (2016)
The Pollination Project | Grantee - Impact Project Grant (2016)
Lucie Foundation: Emerging Artist Award | Finalist (2016)
Sony World Photography Awards | Finalist (2016)
Lectures & Presentations
Archiving and Visualizing Asia: Politics of Poetics of Knowledge Production | Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (2023)
Capstone Seminar in Documentary Studies | Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (2023)
Asian American Community History | Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (2023)
Retrograde - Fotomoto 22 "HOME" | Parola: University of the Philippines Fine Arts Gallery, Manila, Philippines (2022)
Imagining Asian Pacific America: Storytelling In Contemporary Literary, Media & Visual Arts | Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (2022)
Art Libraries Society of North America - 50th Annual Conference | Chicago, Illinois (2022)
Collaborations
Mana Photo x WIP with Simeon Marsalis | Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, New Jersey (2019)
Visiting Author Talk: Simeon Marsalis | Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, Fashion Institute of Technology, Manhattan, New York (2019)
Site Specific Commission
BYOPaper! - Rencontres d’Arles | Arles, France (2017)