Philomene Laurence
Women Photograph
Montreal, QC, Canada
Laurence Philomene is a non-binary photographer based in Montreal, Canada. Laurence’s work deals with questions of identity and selfhood. Through a lens coloured by queer + trans experience, they blend documentary and fine art approaches with high saturation. They are a recipient of the 2019 Lucie Foundation emerging artist scholarship, and the 2020 Women Photograph mentorship program.
Laurence's work is informed by their lived experiences as a chronically ill transgender artist coming of age amid the rise of social media. Through long-form collaborative and autobiographical projects, they aim to celebrate trans existence, and to study identity as a space in constant flux. In doing so, their work humanizes aspects of identity that have been historically marginalized, and acts as a love letter to their community. Visually, their work investigates how western understandings of masculinity and femininity inform our perception of gender, and how the two can co-exist outside of the binary.
Laurence's work has been published internationally in magazines such as Vice, Courrier International,The Independent, Dazed, I-D, Broadly, Teen Vogue, CBC arts, Wonderland, and Hunger Magazine. Their work has been presented in over 40 exhibitions worldwide, including solo exhibits in Toronto, Montreal, Berlin and Kracow. Laurence was named as part of Adweek’s creative 100 list in 2018, presented their work at the 2019 Cannes Lyons festival, and served as a judge for the 2019 Getty Images Creative Bursary.
2019 - Artsida 9 - Emerging Artist award, 2018 - Adweek's Creative 100 list, 2017 - Lucie Foundation Emerging Artist Scholarship, 2014 - Flickr 20 under 20 - Curator's choice award, 2019 - Lucie Foundation Emerging Artist Scholarship