A pandemic is a story told in torrents of numbers. In the midst of calculating infection rates and tallying COVID-19 cases and deaths, we risk commodifying the loss. Wayne Lawrence’s portraits do not permit that.
In three American centers where COVID-19’s damage was profound—New Orleans, Detroit, and metropolitan New York-New Jersey—Lawrence sought out the bereaved. All had lost a loved one, or several, in the pandemic. Each shared mournful, loving stories: of a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a child.
Lawrence’s penetrating portraits capture, but do not invade the grief of the mourners, those whose faces show their sorrow, and those whose expressions mask it. The photographs remind us that death is not an abstraction, but a timeless and intimate experience.
Artist Bios
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Wayne Lawrence
Wayne Lawrence (b.1974) is a St. Kitts-born, Brooklyn-based visual artist whose work, rooted in the documentary tradition, seeks to illuminate the complexities of human experience, navigating ideas of community, purpose, and humanity’s relationship to our natural and adopted environments.
Wayne’s photographs have been exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art, the FLAG Art Foundation, Amerika Haus (Munich), the Open Society Institute, and the African American Museum of Philadelphia, among other galleries.
His work has appeared on the covers of National Geographic and TIME and has been published by National Geographic magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, AARP, TIME, Rolling Stone, Variety, Men’s Journal, Mother Jones, Mare, COLORS, and Newsweek.
His first monograph, Orchard Beach: The Bronx Riviera, was released by Prestel Publishing in October 2013, with accompanying exhibitions at the Bronx Museum of Art, and the FLAG Art Foundation.
Wayne is currently at work on his second book, Black Blood, an exploration of J’ouvert Carnival traditions in the eastern Caribbean.rt & Art history.
Organizations
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National Geographic
Representing one of the largest brands on social media with over 801 million followers and a billion impressions each month, National Geographic Content’s award-winning and critically acclaimed storytelling inspires fans of all ages to connect with, explore, and care about the world through factual storytelling. National Geographic Content, part of a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, reaches up to 402 million households in at least 170 countries and 30 languages across the global National Geographic channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO), National Geographic Documentary Films, and streaming services Disney+ and Hulu, in addition to being a global digital, social, and print publisher. Its diverse content includes Oscar- and BAFTA Award-winning film Free Solo; Oscar-nominated films Sugarcane, Fire of Love, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, and The Cave; Emmy Award-winning franchises Race Against Time and Secrets of; Emmy Award-winning series Animals Up Close and Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller; and Emmy-nominated series A Real Bug’s Life and Tucci in Italy, in addition to multiple National Magazine Awards, Pulitzer Prize finalists, and Webby wins. Visit nationalgeographic.com and natgeotv.com or explore Instagram, Threads, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit.
Portrait of Grief
Featuring: Wayne Lawrence
Curated by: Todd James
Supported by:
Locations
View Location Details Washington Street and Prospect StreetWashington Street and Prospect Street
DUMBO, Brooklyn 11201
Location open 24 hours
