Lola Flash
Let My People Go, 2026
Photograph
24 x 30
1 of 10
 
A New Jersey native and longtime figure in New York's downtown scene, I am an activist who documents themes around race, age, and gender. After 4 decades as a photographer, I turned the lens on myself, in my latest series, The Vision. Moving from analogue to digital, I imagine myself as a superhero - an arresting, gender-fluid mythical being. The series began in 2019, with me wearing an orange prison uniform and a space helmet, one arm handcuffed, the other free, evoking my optimism for the future. In my large-scale photographs, I channel the spirits and distinctive visions of many of my favorite artists, pioneers who forged their concepts and iterations of Afrofuturism.