Laura Blacklow

Awards

  • Finalist, United States National Parks Arts Foundation: Artist in Residence program, 2018
  • Mellon and Cushman Family Faculty Enrichment Grants, School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, 2017, 2008, 2005, 2004, 2001, 1996, 1992
  • The St. Botolph Club Foundation: Morton C. Bradley Grant for Works in Color, 1999
  • Harvard University, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies: Research Grant, 1999
  • Blanche E. Colman Foundation: Finalist, 1993, 1999
  • National Endowment for the Arts and New England Foundation for the Arts: Regional Fellowship for Works on Paper, 1990
  • Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY: Artists’ Book Production Grant, 1986
  • Polaroid Corporation:  Artist Support Program, 1983-2001
  • Massachusetts Artists Foundation: Recipient, Fellowship in Photography, 1978; Artist-in-Residence, 1977 and 1980
  • Boston Museum of Science: Artist-in-Residence, 1979
  • Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridge, MA: CityArts Grant, 1981, 1990
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Research Affiliate, Visible Language Workshop/Architecture Dept, 1977-1979

Selected Exhibitions

Individual

  • 1998 – Driskel Gallery/School House Center for the Arts, Provincetown, MA, “Laura Blacklow: Prints and Artists’ Books”
  • 1989-90 – Opsis Gallery, New York, NY, “Excerpts: Photographic Monoprints”
  • 1982 – University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI; Hampshire College, Amherst, MA

Selected Group

  • 2025 – Griffin Museum of Photography, Handmade Photobook Exhibition, Winchester, MA; FotoNostrum Mediterranean House of Photography, Juliet Margaret Cameron Award Winners Exhibition, Madrid, Spain
  • 2022 – L.A. Photo Curators Earth Day Online Exhibit
  • 2021 – Samara Society for Cultural Studies, Russia: “Anthropology of Color”
  • 2019 – Aidekman Art Gallery, Tufts University, Medford, MA: “Bookworks”.
  • 2016 – Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, “Cyanotype: Photography’s Blue Period”
  • 2013-2020 – Center for Book Arts, San Francisco; Columbia University, NYC; American University, Cairo, Egypt and other sites: “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here”
  • 2010 – University of New England, Portland, ME; Simmons College, Boston, MA; University of MA-Dartmouth; Maine Media Workshops, Camden:, ME: “Going Forward, Looking Back–Practicing Historic Photographic Processes in the 21st Century”
  • 2007 – Gallery Studio Artists Projects (GASP), Boston, MA: “PhotoGraphics” (curator and exhibitor)
  • 2003 – Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA: “Photoplay’
  • 1999 – Corcoran Gallery of Art and Pyramid Atlantic, Washington, DC: “Invitational Book Exhibit”
  • 1998 – Instituto de Artes Graficas, Oaxaca, Mexico; Biblioteca Mexico, Mexico City: “The Art of the Artist’s Book”
  • 1993 – Koppelman Gallery, Tufts University, Medford, MA: “Breaking the Mold”
  • 1992 – National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, DC: “Book as Art” Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA: “The Country Between Us: Contemporary American Landscapes”
  • 1991 – Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: “Mixing the Medium: Beyond Silver Photographs”
    Trustman Gallery, Simmons College, Boston, MA: “Words and Photographic Images” (2-person)
  • 1990 – The Print Club, Philadelphia, PA: “Contemporary Books” Arvada Center for the Arts, Denver, CO: “A Book in Hand”
  • 1988 – Clarence Kennedy Gallery, Polaroid Corp., Cambridge, MA, “New Dimensions in Photography”
  • 1987 – Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA: “Boston Now/Projects”
  • 1985 – Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA: “Central America-Boston Reacts”
  • 1984 – Vision Gallery, Boston, MA: “Words and Pictures”
  • 1983 – University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI: “Breaking the Bindings: American Book Art Now”
  • 1982 – William Patterson College, Wayne, NJ: “Artists’ Books-A Survey 1960-81”
  • 1981 – Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN: “One-of-a-Kind Artists’ Books” Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA; Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA: “Words and Images-A Contemporary Survey of Artists’ Books”, organized by the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts
  • 1980 – A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, “Speaking Volumes”, curated by Lucy Lippard
  • 1979 – Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA; University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University: “Art of the State: Photography 1978-79” Royal Museum, Melbourne, Australia; National Museum, Covett Brewster Gallery, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand: “Artists’ Books” (curated by Franklin Furnace Book Archive and Performance Center, New York, NY)
  • 1978 – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Creative Photography Gallery: “Vaguely Photographic”

Exhibition Catalogues

FotoNostrum Magazine, 24th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Professional Series. 2025; Anthropology of Color, 2021; Cyanotype: Photography’s Blue Period, 2016; Breaking the Mold, 1993; Book as Art, 1992; Al Mutunabbi Starts Here, 2013; The Country Between Us: Contemporary American Landscapes, 1992; Graphic Design USA: 1982; Words and Images: A Contemporary Artists Book Exhibition, 1981; Re: Pages. An Exhibition of Contemporary American Bookworks, 1981; Bound to Be, 1981; Artists’ Books, New Zealand Tour, 1978-1979

Selected Collections

Institutions                                                                                                    

  • Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA 
  • Clarence Kennedy Gallery, Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, MA                       
  • Doubleday Publishing Co, Garden City, NJ                                
  • Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA         
  • George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, Rochester, NY                      
  • Itek Corporation, Rochester, NY                                                                    
  • Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
  • Museum of Modern Art, NYC
  • Polaroid International Collection, Offenbach, Germany
  • Roxbury Community College, Boston, MA
  • Simmons College, Boston, MA
  • Sol Lewitt Collection, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Middletown, CT
  • Stanford University Library, Special Collections, CA
  • Duke University, Rubenstein Library, Sallie Bingham/Rare Books Collection, NC

Individuals

  • Michael Blasgen
  • Bela Kalman
  • Robert Brock
  • Lucy Lippard
  • David & Reva Logan
  • Robert Pyle
  • Andrew Wolf
  • William and Nancy Osgood

Publications

Author

  • New Dimensions in Photo Processes: A Step-by-Step Manual for Alternative Techniques –  Focal Press, Focal Press, an imprint of Routledge/Taylor & Francis Publishers, New York & London, revised fifth edition, 2018; Published in French by Editions Francaise un department d’Edi8, Paris, as Procédes de Photographie Alternatifs, 2020
  • Misshaping Media: The Uses and Abuses of Photojournalism – Art New England, Feb. 1985 
  • Nicaraguan Journal – Views: The Journal of Photography in New England, winter 1984  

Photography Editor and Designer

  • Family Histories: Past and Present Images in the Lives of Recent Hispanic Immigrants – Essex Institute, Salem, MA, 1990 

Designer and Printer

  • We Need a Change! Portraits of Five Activist Women – University of Massachusetts, Harbor Campus, 1984 

Photography Editor and Printer

  • Voices of a Generation: Growing Up in Lynn during the Decline of the Shoe Industry – North Shore Community College and CETA, Salem, MA, 1980 

Works Featured In (Selected List)

  • 24th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Professional Series, FotoNostrum Magazine, Barcelona, Spain, 2025
  • Jill Enfield’s Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes, Second Edition, Jill Enfield, Focal Press, New York and London, 2019
  • Cyanotype: The Blueprint in Contemporary Practice, Christina Z. Anderson, Focal Press, New York and London, 2019
  • 101 Contemporary Artists, Terrance Sanders and Jen Zhao, Artvoices Art Books, 2016
  • Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age, Robert Hirsch, Elsevier Scientific/Focal Press, Boston, MA and London, First through Third Editions, 2007-2011
  • Exploring Color Photography, Fourth Ed., Robert Hirsch, McGraw Hill, New York, 2005
  • Making Journals by Hand, Jason Thompson, Rockport Books, Rockport Ma, 2002
  • Making Memory Books by Hand, Kristina Feliciano, Rockport Books, Rockport, MA, 1999
  • Making Books by Hand, Mary McCarthy, Rockport Books, Rockport, MA, 1996.
  • The Art of Hand Coloring Photographs, Cheryl Winser, North Light Books, Cincinnati, OH, 1995.
  • The Contemporary Quilt, ed. Pattie Chase, E. P. Dutton, NY, 1978
  • Innovative Printmaking, ed. Thelma R. Newman, Crown Publishing, NY, 1977

Selected Reviews and Interviews

  • “Meet Laura Blacklow“, Stories & Insights, CanvasRebel, 2023
  • “Painterly Photographs”, Sharon Butler, Two Coats of Paint (blog), 2018
  • “Laura Blacklow on the History of Photography” Shadow and Light Magazine: July/August, 2018
  • “Descriptions/Depictions/Decisions”, Tom Garvey, Arts Media, Boston, May-June, 2000
  • “Breaking the Mold Offers Hands-On Approach”, Nancy Stapen, Boston Sunday Globe, May 23, 1993
  • “Art Review”, Nancy Stapen, Boston Herald, February 1989.
  • “Photography Review”, Kelly Wise, Boston Globe, September 20, 1985
  • “Polaroid Collection”, Linda Benedict-Jones, Views: The Journal of Photography in New England, Winter 1984
  • “Alternative Spaces: Laura Blacklow”, Lois Tarlow, feature article, Art New England, February 1983
  • “Boston Photography”, Gerald Peary, Boston Magazine, December 1983
  • “Mass Art”, Sandi Brayman, Afterimage, summer 1980
  • “Surprises: Some Women Artists’ Books”, Lucy Lippard, Chrysalis 5, 1978

Selected Volunteer and Professional History

  • Board of Directors, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA, 1987-1992
  • President, Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, Boston Chapter, 1984-1987
  • Member, Boston Area Guatemalan Solidarity Committee, 2000-2010
  • Instructor, FotokidsOriginal, sporadically, 1990-present

Faculty, Photography Department and Graphic Arts Department, School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, 1990-2020

BFA-Boston University School of Fine Arts; MFA-Visual Studies Workshop of S.U.N.Y. Buffalo