Quick Facts
Biography
Lola Flash (born 1959) is a U.S.-based photographer focusing on social, LGBT and feminist issues.
Early life and education
After attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, Flash used negatives and inverted color schemes focusing on social issues including the AIDS epidemic, followed by two photography series at Alice Yard (Scents of Autumn, The Quartet series). During this time Flash also appeared in Gran Fury's "Kissing Doesn't Kill" campaign.
Career
Flash's newer work has focused on issues such as how skin color impacts black identity and gender fluidity. She has frequently photographed members of the LGBT community, including a pride exhibit called LEGENDS that portrays members of the New York City LGBT community. In her most recent project Salt, Lola Flash focuses on women over the age of seventy who remain active in their field. Her subjects, who are exemplified in classical portrait-style photographs, range from artists and activists to real estate agents, singers and designers. Her photography is featured in the book Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present. Her photograph, Stay Afloat, Use a Rubber, is part of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.