Bio

Holly Lynton is an artist working primarily in photography with a multidisciplinary, research-based practice that includes writing, historical research, and collaborative works in other media. Her background in psychology inspires her to explore core aspects of humanity, filtered through local contexts. Her photographs are made in rural communities in the United States with a focus on their agricultural history, current industry, and ritual. Through her images, she underscores the importance of having unmediated experiences with nature and explores issues of sustainability. Currently, her work is investigating the intersection of spirituality, labor, and the environment. By incorporating recognizable symbols and allusions, Lynton highlights how cultural visual memory influences what we see in photographs.

Lynton's photographs have been exhibited internationally; recent exhibitions include the upcoming Strange and Familiar Places at the Nelson-Atkins Museum (2025), On the Basis of Art, 150 Years of Women at Yale at the Yale University Art Gallery (2021), and a solo exhibition in collaboration with Maurice Wallace: Meeting Tonight: Two South Carolina African American Camp Meetings at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University (2022). Her first book Bare Handed was published in 2022 by L’Artiere Edizioni. Her book and photographs are held in several public collections such as the Yale University Art Gallery, MoMA Library Collection, the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Tate Library, Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke Univerity, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Library Collection, the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, The Fidelity Collection, Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, the Ingalls Library and Museum Archives, Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami.

Lynton has received numerous awards and grants including an Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship, the 2021 Critical Mass Top 50, and the Syngenta Photography Award. She has been nominated for the Maud Morgan Prize at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, a St Botolph Distinguished Artist Award, and a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship. Yale University awarded her a postdoctoral research fellowship in 2019 at the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition for her series Meeting Tonight, an exploration of Methodist camp meetings in South Carolina. 

Her work has been featured in and she has worked on consignment for publications such as The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, The Miami Herald, Southern Cultures, Harvard Design Magazine, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Lynton has been a guest lecturer and led workshops at numerous institutions internationally including the University of Connecticut, the University of South Carolina, and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies in Heidelberg, Germany.

Lynton received a BA in psychology from Yale University in 1994 and an MFA in Photography from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College in 2000. Her studio is in rural Massachusetts.

 
 

  • 2000 • M.F.A, Bard College, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Annandale, NY

    1994 • B.A. Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT

  • 2023 • Beyond the Bounds, Do Good Fund, Columbus, GA

    2022 • Meeting Tonight, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

    2020 • Bare Handed, Williston School, Easthampton, MA

    2017 • The Birds, Goodwin Fine Art, Denver, CO

    2016 • Bare Handed, Filter Space, Chicago, IL

    2015 • Bare Handed, Dina Mitrani Gallery, Miami, FL

    2014 • Pioneer Valley, Miller Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA

    2011 • Fleeced, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL

    2010 • Holly Lynton, selections from Solid Ground and Bare Handed, Hampden Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

    2009 • Bare Handed, Office of the Provost, Yale University, New Haven, CT

    2008 • Holly Lynton, Galerie Schuster, Berlin, Germany

    2006 • Solid Ground, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, NY

    2005 • Orange Tickle, (video installation), Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ

    2004 • Mean Ceiling, Mixed Greens, New York, NY

    2000 • In Between, curated by Stephanie Theodore, Kathryn Markel Fine Art, New York, NY

  • 2023 • Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Nominee Prix Pictet Photography Prize, Nominee

    2021 • Photolucida, Critical Mass Top 50 2021

    2020 • Photolucida, Critical Mass 2020, Finalist

    2019 • Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University, Postdoctoral Fellowship

    2016 • Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship Award

    2015 • St. Botolph Club Foundation Distinguished Artist Award, Finalist

    2015 • Maud Morgan Prize, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Finalist

    2013 • Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Award

    2013 • Prix Pictet Photography Prize, Nominee

    2013 • Syngenta Photography Award, First Prize

    2012 • Prix Pictet Photography Prize, Nominee

    2011 • Artist Resource Trust Grant, Massachusetts

    2011 • SOS Guilds Artist Grant, New York

    2010 • Daylight Magazine Photo Awards, Honorable Mention

  • 2023 • Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill, NC (Artist Talk)

    2023 • University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT (Artist Talk)

    2022 • Baden Württemberg Seminar at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies, Heidelberg

    2022 • University, Germany (Artist Talk and Workshop)

    2022 • Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ in conversation with Maurice Wallace

    2022 • Photo SC, Columbia, South Carolina (Artist Talk)

    2021 • Yale University, IMPACT Conference, “Representation & the Power of Art” (Panel)

    2020 • TILT, Philadelphia, PA, Thursday Night Photo Talk (Artist Talk)

    2020 • Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia, GA (Artist Talk)

    2019 • Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University: Faith,

    2019 • Nature, and the Legacies of South Carolina Camp Meetings. New Haven, CT (Presentation)

    2019 • MacMillan Center at Yale University: Faith, Nature, and the Legacies of South Carolina Camp

    2019 • Meetings. New Haven, CT (Presentation)

    2019 • Artist Talk, Graduate Seminar: Representing the American West, Yale University, New Haven CT

  • 2025 • Strange and Familiar Places, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City KS

    2024 • Nuit de L'Année (Night of the Year) Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France

    2024 • Bare Handed, Momentum Gallery, Zona Maco, Mexico City, Mexico

    2023 • Context 23, Filter Photo, Chicago, IL, curated by Karen Haas, Lane Senior Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

    2023 • Bare Handed, Momentum Gallery, AIPAD Photo Show, New York, NY

    2023 • Altered Images, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, curated by Lisa Volpe, Associate Curator Photography, Museum Fine Arts, Houston, TX

    2021 • On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

    2021 • UnBound10! Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA

    2021 • Human / Nature, Lishui Art Museum, Lishui, China

    2021 • In Conversation with the Land, curated by Karen Haas Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO

    2021 • Four Degrees: Eco Anxiety and Climate Change, Strange Fire Collective and Humble Arts, New York, NY

    2019 • Edward Weston’s Leaves of Grass, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

    2018 • We Feed the World, London, UK

    2017 • Animal as Metaphor, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA

    2017 • On Freedom, Aperture Gallery, New York, NY

    2016 • FIX, Photo London, London, UK

    2016 • Photo Finish, Station Independent Gallery, New York, NY

    2015 • Field Study, David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL

    2015 • The Natural Order of Things, Goodwin Fine Art, Denver, CO

    2015 • Fraction of a Second, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM

    2015 • Wilderness, Miller Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA

    2014 • Manger un Mur – des Affiches Nourrissantes pour un Monde Indigeste (Eating a Wall – Nourishing Images for an Indigestible World), Cultural Centre Les Chiroux, Liège, Belgium

    2014 • Massachusetts Cultural Council Photography Awards Exhibition, New Art Center, Newtonville, MA

    2013 • Syngenta Photography Awards Exhibition, Somerset House, London, England

    2013 • 20/20 Noorderlicht International Photo Festival, Groningen, Netherlands

    2012 • What’s in a Face, Panoptican Gallery, Boston, MA

    2011 • Outlands: Land Over Time, Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta, GA

    2011 • Faculty Exhibition, Amherst College, Amherst, MA

    2011 • Greenhouse, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL

    2011 • Hive Culture: Captivated by the Honeybee, Wave Hill Gallery, New York, NY

    2011 • Fresh Work, Flash Forward Festival Exhibition, Boston, MA, curated by Paula Tognarelli, Griffin Museum of Photography

    2011 • New Directions, Wall Space Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, & Seattle, WA

    2011 • Myself, Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno, NV

    2010 • Cultural Corridor, Storefront Artists Project, Pittsfield, MA, curated by Susan Cross, Mass MoCA

    2010 • All in the Family, Islip Museum, Long Island, NY

    2008 • Surprisingly Natural, Bronx River Art Center, NY, NY

    2007 • Complete Control, Contemporary Art Projects, London, UK

    2007 • Emerge 8, Aljira, Newark, NJAnd One Pill Makes You Small, Tastes Like Chicken Art Space, NY, NY

    2007 • Material Witness, General Electric world headquarters, Fairfield, CTEye to I, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM

    2006 • Temporal Pause, Gallery W52, New York, NY

    2006 • The Social Body, Rocket Projects, Miami, Florida

    2006 • Meditations in an Emergency, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, NY

    2005 • Then I Woke Up, and It Was Still There, Ambrosino Gallery, Miami, Florida

    2004 • Ice Cream Social, Mixed Greens Gallery, New York, NY

    2004 • Better Homes and Gardens, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, PA

    2004 • That Summertime Feeling, Wooster Projects, New York, NY

    2004 • Supranatural, Mixed Greens Gallery,New York, NY

    2002 • Field Trip, School House Gallery, Croton Falls, NY

    2002 • The Ides of March, ABC NoRio, New York, NY

    2001 • Heat, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

    2001 • Benefit exhibition, Museum of New Art, Detroit, MI

    2000 • Meat Market Art Fair, New York, NY

    2000 • Foci: Points of Convergence, Bard College, Red Hook, NY

    2000 • Benefit exhibition, White Columns, New York, NY

    1999-2000 • Photographs by Painters, Photographers, Sculptors, Lennon, Weinberg Gallery, New York, NY

    1999 • The Warehouse, Exit Art, New York, NY

    1997 • Body Parts, Kingsgate Gallery, London

    1997 • Everything Cool, Platinum Gallery, New York, NY

  • National Gallery of Art Special Collections, Washington D.C.

    Cassilhaus Collection, Chapel Hill, NC

    Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

    Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

    Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

    Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami, FL

    Girl’s Club Collection, Fort Lauderdale, FL

    Progressive Collection, Mayfield Village, OH

    Fidelity Collection, Boston, MA

    Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT

    MoMA Library Collection, New York, NY

    Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

    Casalini Libri, Florence, Italy

    Ingalls Library and Museum Archives, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

    Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden, Germany

    Columbia University Library, New York, NY

    Los Angeles County Museum of Art Library, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2023 • Nord Photography, Inderøy, Norway, Instructor

    2023 • Maine Media Workshops, Instructor

    2023 • Los Angeles Center of Photography, Instructor

    2022 • Los Angeles Center of Photography, Instructor

    2014 • New Hampshire Institute of the Arts, MFA Mentor

    2014 •Contemporary Collectors Circle, University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachusetts, Board Member

    2011 • Amherst College, Visiting Lecturer

    2006 • Creative Capital & Aljira Emerge Residency Program, Newark, NJ

    2005 • New School, summer program, Artist Mentor and Lecturer

  • Bare Handed, L’Artiere Edizioni, Bologna, Italy, 2022 (monograph)

    On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (exhibition catalogue)

    “Edward Weston’s Leaves of Grass,” Harvard Design Magazine, Issue No. 48, Spring / Summer 2021

    “Bare Handed,” Southern Cultures Journal, Documentary Moment, Vol 26, No. 1, UNC Press, Spring 2020 (photo and written essay)

    “The Spirit and the Food Feeds Them,” Gravy, No.74, The Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi, Winter 2019 (photo and written essay)

    Fraction of a Second, exhibition catalog, Radius Books, 2015

  • Dunau, Bera, “Cummington to Unveil New Public Art Installation,” Daily Hampshire Gazette, June 22, 2022

    Dugan, Jess, Strange Fire Collective, “Q & A Holly Lynton,” May 5, 2022

    Lynton, Holly, Musée Magazine, “Triggered” June 8, 2021

    McQuaid, Cate, “Four Current Shows Offer Energy and Enchantment,” The Boston Globe, 28 July, 2015.

    McQuaid, Cate, “Art Review: Agrarian Labors with Biblical Passion at Miller Yezerski,” The Boston Globe, 17 June, 2014.

    Oxford American, Fall 2013, Volume 82, p. 29 (photo).

    Tricycle Magazine, Fall 2013, Volume 23, Number 1, p.50 -52 (photo).

    Water ~ Stone Review, A Literary Annual, Volume 16, 2013-2014 (photo).

    Scoffier, Victoria, “Les Dessous de l’Image,” 6Mois, 18 July 2013.

    Lazlo, Gyorgy, “Holly Lynton, Interview,” L1GHTB1TES, 17 June 2013.

    O’Reilly, John, “Holly Lynton: Transforming Eco-Photography,” Image Source, 20 June 2013.

    Carlisle, Felecia Chizuko, “Artsy Bees and a Sexy Platypus,” ARTslant Miami, August, 2011.

    Blask, Dan, and Holly Lynton, “In the Hands of Holly Lynton,” Interview, Artsake, Massachusetts’ Cultural Council, July 2011.

    Holland, Laura, “Artist Profile, Holly Lynton,” Preview Massachusetts Magazine, July 2011.

    McQuaid, Cate, “A Focused Look at Some Fresh Viewpoints,” Photography Review, Boston Globe, 7 June, 2011.

    Gordon, Margery, “Holly Lynton, Galerie Schuster, Miami,” National Reviews section, ARTnews, February 2011.

    Miller, Geralda, “Newest Exhibit at UNR's Sheppard Gallery is How Artists See Themselves,”

    The Reno Gazette Journal, 16 January, 2010.

    Scelfo, Julie, “Easing the Pain of Collecting,” The New York Times, Home & Garden, 28 February 2008. (photo)

    Reed, John, “Solid Ground – John Reed on Holly Lynton,” NY Arts, May/June 2007.

    Salem, Nancy, “Review: Finding the Soul Through Self-portraits,” The Albuquerque Tribune, 16 February 2007.

    Garrido, France, “Review: New Jersey Artists-Identity,” NY Arts, January/February 2007.

    Aletti, Vince, “Art Review: Solid Ground,” The New Yorker, October 23, 2006.

    Turner, Elisa, “Critic’s Pick: The Social Body,” Miami Herald, 19 May 2006.

    The New Yorker, April 14, 2003. (photo)

    Johnson, Ken, “Art Guide Review,” The New York Times, C6, 21 April 2000.

    Aletti, Vince, “Voice Choices – Short List,” The Village Voice, 25 April 2000, pp. 84-85, (photo).

    Morgan, Robert, “Artist Photographs: Straight and Sequential,” NY Arts, international edition, volume 5, p. 13.

  • Scheiber, Noam, “Trader Joe’s Workers File for Election to Create Company’s First Union,” The New York Times, June 9, 2022 (photo commission)

    Peters, Torrey, “Parsing American Style,” The New York Times, September 12, 2021 (photo essay)

    Lach, Eric, “A Cautionary Tale of Workplace Harrassment in the Cuomo Administration,” The New Yorker, April 10, 2021. (photo commission)

    Chotiner, Isaac, “Marty Baron Considers His Time at the Washington Post,”

    The New Yorker, February 6, 2021. (photo commission)