LARA JO REGAN
Biography / CV
Lara Jo Regan's career as a photographer has been uncommon and diverse; its progressive hybrid nature has influenced the aesthetic direction of photojournalism, animal photography, and documentary coverage of the art and entertainment industry. With a background in Anthropology, fine art, documentary photography and film, Regan’s work combines painterly aesthetics with sociological observation, a signature style she has applied to everything from impoverished Appalachians to the Hollywood elite. Her interpretive visual commentary of American culture has been manifested in many acclaimed personal projects and regularly commissioned by the world’s leading publications, such as Time, Newsweek and LIFE, among many others. The UnCounted, the last major commission LIFE magazine granted before folding its iconic weekly publication, was assigned to Regan in 1999. The project explored new subcultures of immigrants and extremely impoverished populations in America “not officially existing” in the nation’s census records at the turn of the century. This series earned Regan The World Press Photo of the Year award, considered photojournalism’s most prestigious and coveted honor.
A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Regan has been photographing the human and cultural landscape of Southern California for over two decades, resulting in an extensive collection of Southern California documentary and street photography from 1985 to the present. Since 2013, her full-page photo column, Lara Jo Regan’s Sights Unscene, is a regular feature in Artillery, a popular L.A. based magazine covering the art world at large.
Also a fine art photographer, her current more conceptually driven work seeks to reinvigorate the meditative and provocative nature of documentary images by pushing the tradition into new abstracted and cinematic realms, while still preserving its essential function of inciting meaningful alternative contemplation of the real world.
She has also authored six monographs of dog photography published by Random House, W.W. Norton and Myth and Matter Media. Her sideline as a chronicler of canine life began when a whimsical photo series she created of a former stray, Mr. Winkle, became one of the world’s first viral Internet sensations and achieved international cult popularity.
Education
University of Colorado, Boulder, B.A.
Majors: Anthropology, Communication Art and Theory
Selected Exhibitions
GROUP
2021 (upcoming) Migration in the 21st Century, Novi Sad, Serbia
2021 Nomad, Torrance art Museum pop up event, Torrance, CA
2020, 10+ Anniversary Show, Galerie Frank Taal, Rotterdam
2019 Women Street Photographers, PHOS Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria; New York, NY
2018 30 Photos, 30 Years, Caen Memorial Museum, Caen, France
2016, Under the Spell – Los Angeles New International Art Scene, Galerie Frank Taal, Rotterdam
2015/2016 Inside the White Cube: The Gallery as Context, Arena One Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2014 /2015 California Dreaming, Oceanside Museum of Art / Riverside Museum of Art
2013 Aberrant Abstraction, (Group Show), Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles2011
One Night Stand (Group Show), Beacon Art Center, Los Angeles, curated by Doug Harvey
2009 UNHCR, Global Immigrtion, Exhibition, Cyprus
2002 A Street in America, Photokina, UberLeben im Alltage – Berlin, Germany
SOLO / TWO PERSON / MAJOR INSTALLATIONS / FILM
2021 Across the Millennium, Los Angeles Street Photography, 1985 - 2020, Gallery 515 / Bendix Buiding, Los Angeles
2019 Drive Thru, Photoville LA, Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles
2017 Dog Plays, The Fence / Photoville, National Touring Exhibition
2012 Object of Projection ( Retrospective) Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City
2011 Drive Thru, Visual Journalism, Irvine Fine Art Center, Irvine, CA, curated by Carl Berg
2010 Drive-Thru, Kopeikin Gallery, Culver City, CA
2009 Dreamland Ubiquities, Randall Scott Gallery, New York
2009, Dreamland Ubiquities, Pulse Art Fair, Miami
2008 REDCAT, Los Angeles (film screening)
2006 Comic-Con, San Diego (film screening)
2007 Los Angeles County Museum of Art (film screening)
2005 Mr. Winkle Hotel-Motel series, Icon Gallery, Los Angeles
2001 Life Work Survey, World Press Photo Foundation, Amsterdam
1998 Behind Oscar’s Back, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and Academy Foundation, Los Angeles
1996 Behind Oscar’s Back, Visa Pour L’Image, Perpignan, France
1993 Squat Cultures of Homeless Youths in Hollywood, Lindhurst Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs
1992 Unplanned Portraits, Randall Scott TBA Gallery, Los Angeles
Honors, Awards
2015 American Photography Annual
2008 American Photography Annual
2007 National Coalition for Quality in Children’s Media, Best Short Film, 2007
2004 American Photography Annual
2003 Communication Arts, Award of Excellence
2001 World Press Photo Foundation, World Press Photo of the Year
2001 World Press Photo Foundation, First Place
2000 Pictures of the Year, National Press Photographer’s Association
2000 American Photography Annual
2000 Communication Arts, Award of Excellence
1999 American Photography Annual
1998 American Photography Annual
1996 Communication Arts, Award of Excellence
1995 Pictures of the Year, National Press Photographer’s Association
1995 Communication Arts, Award of Excellence
Selected Press
The Candid Frame, featured artist interview and podcast, May 2, 2016
Time.com, featured artist in article/slideshow on book, Both Sides of Sunset, July 20, 2015
The Today Show, Feature Author Interview, November 7, 2014
Publishers Weekly, “Almost Human,” Feature, September 1, 2014
ABC News.com, Photo Feature, December 4, 2014
The Guardian, UK, Photo Feature, December 3, 2014
OC Weekly, Dave Barton, Review, Cover Story Arts, Oct 28, 2011
The Los Angeles Times, Donnell Alexander, Review, February 14, 2008
The Seattle Times, John Harti, Review, January 19, 2008 )
NY ARTS, James Scarborough, Review, March/April 2006, Vol.11, No.1/2
Things As They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955, Mary Panzer, Book Inclusion, 2005
Photographic, Lynn Iodice, Career Profile Feature, January 2005
Saint Louis Post Dispatch, Sarah Casey Newman, Feature, September 6, 2003
The Houston Chronicle, Bettijane Levine, Life and Entertainment, Cover Feature, August 25, 2003
The Denver Post, Elena A. Jefferson, The Scene, Cover Feature, August 5, 2003
The Detroit Free Press, Feature, August 8, 2003
The San Francisco Chronicle, Neva Chonin, Datebook, Cover Feature, July 23, 2003
The Los Angeles Times, Bettijane Levine, Calendar, Cover Feature, July 12, 2003
The Chicago Sun Times, Misha Davenport, Feature, June 13, 2003
The San Diego Tribune, John Wilkens, Currents, Cover Story, September 5, 2002
The Today Show, NBC, Featured Guest Interview, June 12, 2002
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Karen Sandstrom, Arts and Life, Cover Story, June 3, 2002
The New York Times, Julie Iovine, Feature, January 20, 2002
Reporter Ohne Grenzen, e.V., 2002 – Berlin - Uberleben im Alltag, 10 Forografinnen fur die Pressefreiheit, Thomas Abel, Feature
The Today Show, NBC, Feature Guest Interview, December 14, 2001
TV Asahi – Japan - Feature Story, December 17, 2001
USA Today, Marco della Cava, Feature, December 3, 2001
New York Newsday, Denise Laim, Feature, August 30, 2001
The Sacramento Bee, Cynthia Hubert, The Scene, Cover Story, July 13, 2001
De Journalist – Amsterdam - Herman Hoenveld, Cover Story, April 2001
PRESS Magazine – Warsaw, Poland - Oczy Spoteczenstwa, Feature, April Issue, 2001
Dinsdag - Amsterdam - Bert Verhoeff, Feature, April 24, 2001
The London Independent, Andrew Gumbel, Friday Review, Cover Feature, March 23, 2001
China Photo Press, Feature, February 20, 2001
CNN TV, Feature Story, February 2001
ABC Evening News, Feature Segment, January 2001
The Dallas Morning News, Michael Precker, Living, Cover Feature, October 24, 2000
The Los Angeles Times, Dennis Arp, Feature, September 22, 2000
Photo District News, Carol Lachnit, Feature, March 1999 issue
The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Karen Heller, Feature, March 22, 1998
The Today Show, NBC, Feature Interview, February 19, 1998
ABC Evening News, Feature Segment, January 22, 1998
The Los Angeles Times, Kristine McKenna, Feature/Review, Calendar Weekend, Cover Story, Weekend, January 15, 1998
The Los Angeles Daily News, Reed Johnson, L.A. Life, Cover Story January 15, 2008
The BBC, Interview, Januarry, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Steven Rea, Feature, March 23, 1997
A&L Magazine, Len Leer, Cover Story, January 23, 1997
VSD magazine – France – Jean P. Cerquant, Feature, September 1996
PHOTO magazine – France – Feature, September,1996
American Photo magazine, Stephanie Dolgoff, L.A.’s New Talent, January/February issue, 1993
Selected Collections
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
World Press Photo Foundation
Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Sciences
Utah Museum of Contemporary Art
Numerous private collections