Lindley Warren: 2018 Lenscratch Student Prize Honorable Mention

Lindley Warren: 2018 Lenscratch Student Prize Honorable Mention by Aline SmithsonJuly 14, 2018

©Lindley Warren, from The Meadows

Congratulations to Lindley Warren for receiving an Honorable Mention in the 2018 Lenscratch Student Prize Awards and being awarded a BFA in Photography from the University Iowa. We were honored to feature her project The Meadows in 2015 as part of the Iowa States Project and today we feature it with a richer articulation of the work. Lindley grew up with a challenging childhood that witnessed addiction and violence and it necessitated an estrangement from her family. The Meadows is an artful reconnection to and examination of her family, ultimately allowing for introspection and healing by changing the the narrative to one that is within her control.

Lindley Warren is a photographer currently residing in Iowa City, IA where she recently earned a BFA in Photography from the University of Iowa. She is the founder and editor of various publications including The Ones We Love and The Photographic Dictionary. Additionally, she has curated international exhibitions and self-published books and magazines. She is a contributing editor of Rubber Factory Posters and in early 2018 released The Reservoir, a collective editorial project with Romke Hoogwaerts (Mossless) and Jack Harries (The Heavy Collective). Most recently, she was named a winner of PDN’s Photo Annual 2018 and awarded a 2018 SPE Student Award for Innovations in Imaging.

©Lindley Warren, from The Meadows

The Meadows

Originally conceived as a means to process my childhood, this ongoing body of work has transformed into a multifaceted study of my identity. I was born into a family that was dominated by addiction, violence, and betrayal. It was a reality I longed to escape from and eventually did. However, fleeing doesn’t promise anything and I suffered regardless.

The summer of 2015 I reconnected with my family after my mom relocated back to my hometown. She and my aunt had been displaced for several months and ended up in the same trailer park as my brother. It was the first time in a long time that my immediate family was living in close proximity to one another. The presence of my nephew amongst them evoked memories of my own upbringing and shortly after I began frequently visiting my family with my camera, which I now realize was used as an excuse to simply be around them. The process of coming together for photographs became intertwined with rebuilding our bond. Over time new memories obliterated the old, our differences became less significant, and I finally began to heal.

My photographs act as an intersection between my familial experience in poverty and my current life; they reflect my reality as an economically insecure artist and academic. It is here that I am able to come to terms with my place in the world, where my dualistic identity becomes one.