Wherever There Is Light features photography by a community of artists concerned with using the camera to examine the visual structures of freedom, personhood, visibility and belonging. Photographer Larry W. Cook founded Wherever There Is Light in 2020 as an evolving workshop series and artist network to support the photographic practice of individuals with carceral experiences. These photographers leveraged their familiarity with photography, from visiting room portraits to the circulation of photographic mementos, to explore visual strategies that challenge audiences to engage modes of vision rooted in introspection, community building and visualizing a just and equitable world.

This exhibition provides a cumulative overview of the Wherever There Is Light project. The majority of the exhibition features photographs created by Larry W. Cook and the Philadelphia cohort including Jose Diaz, Don “Ike” Jones, Vernon Ray and Akeil Robertson. The self portrait suite created by the Los Angeles cohort including Adamu Chan, Jonathan Chiu, Eddie Herena, Javier Jimenez, and Hein Mai in 2020, compliments a portrait series shaped by the Philadelphia cohort. Collectively, these photographs ask viewers to sharpen their vision with an eye toward cultivating a sense of self and sustaining social bonds that uplift community and humanity more broadly. Wherever There Is Light includes a range of photographic mediums including digital photography, digital collage and conceptual installations. This exhibition also provides documentation of creative processes behind the art featured in Wherever There Is Light. An illustrated exhibition catalog with essays by exhibition curator, Melanee C. Harvey, and Wherever There Is Light artist, Akeil Robertson, accompany the exhibition.

Wherever There Is Light has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.