Nueva Luz vol. 20:2 | Page 4

Ed

Contents
En Foco’s Photography
Fellowship Winners 2016
Wendel A. White 2–3
4–9

Tommy Kha

10–15

Adeline Lulo

16–21

Danny D. Peralta

22–27

Lawrence Sumulong

28–33

A Moral Imperative:
Funding Artists of Color
Kathe Sandler

Es

s ay

Fellowship Perspective

photographic journal volume 20 number 2

Anthony Hamboussi

i t o r i a l

We

n d e l

A. Wh

i t e

It was a great pleasure to be invited to suggest a selection of works from each of the awarded artists
for the 2016 Fellowship edition of Nueva Luz. I also participated in the selection process and was acutely aware of the

En Foco’s
Photography
Fellowship
Winners
2016

34-35

Anthony Hamboussi
Tommy Kha
Adeline Lulo

remarkable quality represented by the work of these five photographers. Along with the other panelists, Leenda Bonilla and Sarah Calderon,
narrowing the selection down to the five fellows, was not an easy or casual endeavor. Given the quality and seriousness of all the submissions,
reviewing was a rewarding and frustrating process. It is always encouraging to see the range of contemporary practice as represented by
artists of color living in New York City, a geographic location with so much significance to the concept of diverse communities and for the pursuit
of photographically based artworks. Without a doubt we were unable to support the work of all the deserving photographers and on behalf of
myself and the other panelists, I would like to express our gratitude for the opportunity to review their work.
Nevertheless, five remarkable photographers are selected as the 2016 En Foco Photography Fellowship recipients; Anthony Hamboussi,
Tommy Kha, Adeline Lulo, Danny R. Peralta and Lawrence Sumulong.
As I began the task of shaping a selection of images for this issue, it became even more evident that the review process had recognized and
distilled from the submissions a sense of “location” and “dislocation” among the concerns of these photographers. These five photographers
offer complex and individual visions of experiences within the diversity of communities represented. Connections to global spaces located
outside the boundaries of the U.S. (Hamboussi, Lulo and Sumulong), the dis-location/re-location/bi-location of immigrant communities within
the U.S. (Lulo and Peralta) and an immigrant experience that is both domestic and virtual (Kha), suggesting a constellation of particular
awareness for these issues. They remind us that the concept of place and belonging can evoke feelings of pleasure, comfort and security,
as well as heartache, pain and terror. The photographs direct our attention, at what seems like a critical moment in global political discourse,
to consider the modern concept of nations and borders as a human invention. What we imagine to be or define as, national borders, are
simply extensions of the ancient organization of tribal territories. These definitions are powerful tools for “self-definition” and for the pr ocess of
identifying “others.”
Funding projects by photographers of color, this year and in the future, is an essential cultural task being fulfilled by En Foco. The Executive
Director of the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, Lonnie Bunch, answered the question of why there was a
need for the NMAAHC as a separate museum, “The Smithsonian does something no other museum complex can: opens portals for the public
to enter the American experience…The portal we are opening will allow for a more complicated—and more complete—understanding of this
country.” No sentiment better expresses the significance of the contributions of an organization such as En Foco, it “opens portals” by which
we create access and accessibility to the work of remarkable artists.

Danny R. Peralta

I am particularly grateful for the work and support of Bill Aguado, Layza Garcia, and Kim Rose for making this process possible and for
maintaining En Foco’s mission.

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Lawrence Sumulong
Wendel A. White was born in Newark,

Nu e va Luz is m ad e possi bl e t hr ough
th e Na tional Endo w m ent f or t he Ar t s,
th e Ne w Yor k Sta t e Counci l on t he Ar t s,
th e Ne w Yor k City Depar t m ent of Cul t ur al
Affair s , pr iv ate co nt r i but or s, m em ber s,
an d subs cr iber s .

4 Nueva Luz

New Jersey. He was awarded a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New

His work has received various awards and fellowships including a John Simon

York and an MFA in photography from the University of Texas at Austin. White taught

Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Photography, three artist fellowships from the

photography at the School of Visual Arts, NY; The Cooper Union for the Advancement of

New Jersey State Council for the Arts, a photography grant from the Graham Foundation

Science and Art, NY; the International Center for Photography, NY; Rochester Institute

for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and a New Works Photography Fellowship

of Technology; and is currently Distinguished Professor of Art at Stockton University.

from En Foco Inc. His work is represented in museum and corporate collections.

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