Lauren Noelle Oliver
Lauren Noelle Oliver (b. 1992, Forest Hills, New York) is an interdisciplinary artist currently based in Rochester, NY. She uses photography, performance, and material interventions to explore embodiment and the representation of the female body. She received her BFA in Photography from SUNY Purchase.
Oliver’s photographs have appeared in i-D, Buzzfeed, F-Stop Magazine, and The Luupe. Her first monograph, Temple of the Self (Monolith Editions, 2020), is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her second book, Puntas Abiertas (Matarile Ediciones, 2024), employs self-portraiture and the metaphor of hair to explore identity, belonging, and resilience.
Alongside her artistic practice, Oliver teaches analog photography and filmmaking at the International Center of Photography, Gowanus Community Darkroom, and Mono No Aware. In fall 2024, she began her graduate studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Education
2026 MFA in Photography and Related Media, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
2014 Summa Cum Laude Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Split ends and other stories, CPR, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Puntas Abiertas, This is SALON, Brooklyn, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions/ Screenings
2025 from page to film frame, Dear Friend Books, Brooklyn, NY
2025 Rent Free Project, Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY
2025 WITNESS: Alternative Portraits, LaForce, New York, NY
2025 Less is More- A Lens-Less Photography Exhibition, ACC Art & Design Center Jantzen Gallery, Littleton, CO
2025 19th Biennial Joyce Elaine Grant Exhibition, TWU Visual Arts Gallery, Denton, TX
2025 Intimate Aftergesture, Parsons 25 East Gallery, New York, NY
2024 First Year MFA Photo Workshare, William Harris Gallery, Rochester, NY
2024 ART OUT, Bevier Gallery, Rochester, NY
2024 on celluloid: a collection of analog films, Dear Friend Books, Brooklyn, NY
2023 The Art of Handmade Photography, Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT
2023 Visual Studies Workshop Spring Salon, Rochester, NY
2022 Mono No Aware XVI Cinema Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY
2020 FOGO!, SoMad Studio, New York, NY
2020 We Live in Real Time: Mail Art Made During the Pandemic, Printed Matter St Marks, New York, NY
2019 Living Image, The Halide Project, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Movement: Pangea, Hudson Guild, New York, NY
2018 Island People Recovery Benefit, Hudson Guild, New York, NY
2018 New Steps Choreographer Series, Chen Dance Center, New York, NY
2018 MONO SELECTS, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
2017 Women’s Work, The Yards Collective, Rochester, NY
2017 Not for Sale newsstand, Art Slope, Brooklyn, NY
Awards and Residencies
2024 Julia Margaret Cameron Awards for women photographers, Honorable Mention
2023 Lucie Award Finalist for Photo Program of the Year
2023 MudHouse Residency (Fellowship Recipient), Crete, Greece
2023 Soho House Fellowship, Ludlow House, New York
2022 Independent Study, Pocoapoco, Oaxaca, Mexico
2020 ICP Community Fellowship, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
2018 New Steps Choreographer Series, Chen Dance Center, New York
Publications
Puntas Abiertas, Lauren Oliver, 2024, published by Matarile Ediciones, 2024
THREE: Limited Edition, Radius Books, 2020
Temple of the Self, Lauren Oliver, published by Monolith Editions, 2020
#girlgaze How Girls See the World, published by Rizzoli, 2017
Collections
Amon Carter Museum of Art
Arcadia University
Haverford College
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Ohio University
Schomburg Center/ New York Public Library
Stanford University
University of Colorado Boulder
Virginia Commonwealth University
Press
Interview with Lauren Noelle Oliver, Christy Karpinski, 2020, F-stop Photography Magazine
There Has Never Been A Better Time To Decorate Your Walls, Pia Peterson, 2020, Buzzfeed
Women-Made Photobooks of 2020 That Will Shift Your Worldview, The Luupe, 2020
6 photographers changing the body conversation on Instagram, Blair Cannon, i-D, 2016
Speaking Engagements
2024 Symbolisms of the Body, conversation with Martha Naranjo Sandoval, Peach Studios, Queens, NY
2023 Film Screening and artist talk, Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts
2023 Artist talk and workshop, ICP at THE POINT, Bronx, NY
2022 Artist talk, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts
2021 Artist talk, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
2020 Artist talk, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2020 Artist talk, ICP at The Point, New York, NY
2018 Panel discussion, Magnum Foundation, New York, NY
2017 Panel discussion, High School of Fashion Industries, New York, NY
Teaching
2025-2024 Intro to Film, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, NY
2025 Photostravaganza, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
2024 Blow up 16mm Frames to 120, Mono no Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Optical Sound on Film, Mono No Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Black and White Darkroom 101, Gowanus Community Darkroom, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Photography I in Black-and-White: Camera and Darkroom, International Center of Photography, NY
2023 Muybridge Deconstructed: 16mm to Still Image, Mono no Aware at Gowanus Community Darkroom, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Introduction to Alternative Processes, Gowanus Darkroom, Brooklyn, NY
2023 World Cyanotype Day, Gowanus Darkroom, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Moving Image Cyanotypes, Mono no Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2023 35mm Phytograms, Mono no Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Intro to 16MM Filmmaking, Mono no Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Projection Basics, Mono no Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Color Photograms, Mono no Aware, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Muybridge Deconstructed: 16mm to Still Image, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY
2022 Teaching Assistant for Curtis Willocks, International Center of Photography, NY
2021 Teaching Assistant for Janelle Lynch, International Center of Photography, NY
2020 Teaching Assistant for Lesly Deschler-Canossi, International Center of Photography, NY
2018 Teaching Assistant for Curtis Willocks, High School of Fashion Industries, NY
2017 Teaching Assistant for Ife Abdus-Salam, International Center of Photography, NY