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© Melanie Chapman

WHO WE ARE

⌖ Visual storytellers change the world. They need a safe space to hone their craft and articulate their voices. Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP) is a crucible that forges creative vision, insight, and experimentation into a vibrant photographic community that expresses the cultural and artistic crosscurrents that are the essence of Los Angeles.

For over two decades, LACP, a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, has been supporting, mentoring and promoting visual storytellers on their creative journeys, at all stages of life and career.

Each year, LACP programs, organizes and offers the wider public over 150 exhibitions, classes, workshops, public programs, reviews and events each year, both online and in-person.

Join us to set out on your own creative journey:

Our Team

Our Team

Learn more about the people behind LACP.

Press

Press

Read up on LACP in the news.

Outreach Program

Outreach Program

Read about our work with communities across Los Angeles.

OUR MISSION

⌖ LACP enables its communities to capture, interpret and reimagine individual and cultural conflicts and the creative combustion that shape Los Angeles and influence the world.

OUR VISION

⌖ LACP is at the forefront of photographic arts and expression. We help our communities see the unseen with an unflinching eye that captures the beauty, pulse, and cultural tensions of Los Angeles and the spheres of art, creativity, and social transformation it influences.

LACP is committed to address the social needs of Los Angeles through annual programs and initiatives, engaging and empowering individuals and communities through visual literacy, self-expression and creative pursuits.

Read about our work with communities across Los Angeles and our outreach program here.

OUR COMMUNITY


Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

At the Los Angeles Center of Photography, a diverse and inclusive workplace, creative programming and learning environment mean that members of our community, whatever their race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, sexual orientation or identity, age, education or disability, feels valued and respected. To support and empower a thriving network of creative forces, students and photo-enthusiasts, LACP is committed to champion and integrate practices of cultural equity, diversity and inclusion into our operations and programming. We stand with other non-profits and art organizations for equity and justice, and in denouncing racism, intolerance and exclusion.

We believe that by engaging in conversations and embracing the complexities of EDI within our operations and programs we can make space for collective and individual positive outcomes to flourish. A commitment to cultural equity means LACP is also committed to give voice and visibility to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion. We do not need to agree on every issue, but we have to create spaces where conversations can take place, where we can disagree. We are committed to nurture accessible, dynamic venues for expression and to join forces with other organizations and stakeholders to create more opportunities for various communities and individuals.


Land Acknowledgement

Operating across Los Angeles County, LACP acknowledges the sovereignty and stewardship of Chumash and Tongva People, the original caretakers of the land on which we reside, create, learn and teach.

OUR HISTORY
Our history
© Julia Dean

Our Story

The Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP) was established in October, 2013. The organization obtained 501(c)3 tax-exempt status in August, 2014. Before being re-formed as LACP, the center was called “The Julia Dean Photo Workshops” (JDPW), which was created and founded in 1999 by Julia Dean at Venice Beach in California. LACP built a thriving community of photographers, and, since 2020, expanded its reach exponentially across the country and the world. LACP is now proud to serve visual storytellers globally through its robust online program. In Los Angeles, the center continues to bring together practitioners, curators and scholars and expand its growing outreach program, which offers visual literacy workshops in underserved communities.

  • Join us to define the future of photographic practice!
  • Become a member here.
  • Support LACP here.

About Julia Dean, Founder

Julia Dean is a photographer, educator and writer who began her career as an apprentice to pioneering photographer Berenice Abbott. Later, Dean was a photo editor for the Associated Press in New York. Her extensive teaching experience includes over four decades at various colleges, universities and educational institutions.