Loli Kantor is a photo-artist and documentarian whose work centers on personal, community, and cultural memory. Her works are long-term projects with a depth of content and context.

Kantor's most recent project, Call Me Lola, surveys an extensive archive of family documents and photographs along with new photo-based work she has been making since 2004. Call Me Lola is an autobiographical exploration of the role of photography in shaping memory, identity, and the imagination. It includes self-portraits, archival family portraits and documents, as well as her own annotations on photographs that she made of ephemera, all interwoven with her photographs of present-day places and geographies related to her own family history in Poland, Germany, Ukraine, France and Israel.

Previous completed project centered on Jewish presence and cultural renewal in East-Central Europe, mostly on Poland and Ukraine. As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, her work is deeply personal yet as well speaks about current events. The project was published as a monograph entitled Beyond the Forest, Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe by the University of Texas Press in 2014. This followed on a previously self-published artist’s book from 2009, There Was a Forest: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Today, 2005-2008.

Kantor is a widely exhibited artist in the United States and internationally. Her work is included in museum collections including The Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, TX), Galicia Jewish Museum (Krakow, Poland), Lishui Museum of Photography (Lishui, China), Lviv National Museum (Lviv, Ukraine).

Kantor’s work has garnered critical acclaim in such publications as The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, LensWork, as well as Public Radio International. She has been awarded numerous accolades including Top 50 at Critical Mass, Photolucida (2010), Finalist in 2023, and the Award of Excellence at Lishui International Photography Festival (2009).

Kantor was born in Paris, France and raised in Israel. She has been living and working in Fort Worth, Texas since 1984.

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DOWNLOAD INFORMATION ON TRAVELING EXHIBITION (PDF)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Koslowe Gallery, Westchester Jewish Center, Westchester, NY
2017   Yiddish Book Center Museum, Amherst, MA
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
2016 Temple Beth El, Fort Worth, TX
      Sol Mednick Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2015   Tarnów Cultural Center, Poland
TCC Gallery, Longview, TX
MK Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Stephen Clark Gallery, Austin, TX
2014 Moudy Gallery, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
Stage West Theater, Fort Worth, TX
2013 NN Theatre Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2012 Bass Arts Center, Austin, TX
Art Space 111, Fort Worth, TX
Bruno Schultz Festival, Great Choral Synagogue, Drohobych, Ukraine
Texas Performing Arts Center, University of Texas at Austin
2011   B. Hollyman Gallery, Austin TX
Chernihiv Photo Festival, Chernihiv, Ukraine
PhotoNOLA, Antenna Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Deutser Art Gallery, Houston, TX
2010 FotoFest, Robert I. Kahn Gallery, Temple Emanu El, Houston, TX
L. Nowlin Gallery, Austin, TX
Dutch Kills Gallery, Long Island City, NY
Great Choral Synagogue, Drohobych, Ukraine
2009 Lishui International Photography Festival, Lishui, China
Hamon Arts Library, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Drohobych Museum, Drohobych, Ukraine
2008 Lviv National Museum, Lviv, Ukraine
2006 Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX (toured to Gallery Luzansky, Brno, Czech Republic)
2005 Art Space 111, Fort Worth, TX
2004 Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX (toured to Central Library, Fort Worth, TX)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023   Memory Windows, The Jewish Community of Bochnia Before the Holocaust. Curated by Ivona Zawidzka, Bochnia-Muzeum, Bochnia, Poland
2022 Move Against Hate: The Sh’ma Project, Arts Fort Worth Galleries
The Figure (curated by Leah Gose and Penelope Bisbee), Tarrant County College
2020 26th Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition, Juried by Alexa Dilworth, Griffin Museum of Photography
2019 New Photography Collective, Goldmark Cultural Center’s John H. Milde Gallery, Dallas, TX
2016 Photobook Exhibition, Intl. Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Art in the Box Gallery, Women Show, Prague, Czech Republic
From Generation to Generation, The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
2015   Alternative Process, Juried by Amy Holmes-George Photoplace Gallery, Vermont
Portraits, Print Room Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2014   Alt 8 Group Exhibition, Goodrich Gallery, Dallas, TX
2013   William Campbell Contemporary Art, curated by Christopher Blay, Fort Worth, TX
2012   The University of Texas at Arlington, Fort Worth, TX
   Gallery 111, Fort Worth, TX
Sun and Moon Gallery, Group Alt 8, Dallas, TX
2011 Food, juried by David Bram (Fraction Magazine), The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
Photo Alchemy, juried by Laura Moya, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR
Across the Divide: Critical Mass TOP 50 2010, juried by Todd Hido, Photo Center NW, Seattle, WA
2010   Texas Photographic Society International Competition, juried by Katherine Ware, A Smith Gallery
     Johnson City, TX (Honorable Mention)
   Soho Photo’s Alternative Process Competition, juried by France Scully Osterman and Mar Osterman,
   Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
   The Art of Photography Show, juried by Natasha Egan, Lyceum Theatre Gallery, San Diego, CA
   28th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition, juried by Hannah Frieser, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
2009   Dutch Kills Gallery, Long Island City, NY
   The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards Annual Contest Exhibition, Madrid, Spain
      (Honorable Mention for Portraits)
      The Art of Photography Show, juried by Charlotte Cotton, Lyceum Theatre Gallery, San Diego, CA
      RayKo Photo Center Gallery, juried by Ann Jastrab, San Francisco, CA
      Mind’s Eye, juried by Christopher Rauschenberg, The Center for Fine Art Photography,
      Fort Collins, CO
2008   26th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition, juried by Dr. Alison Nordstrom, Houston Center for
Photography Houston, TX
      Lublin Cultural Center, Lublin, Poland
      RayKo Photo Center Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007   Gallery Luzansky, Brno, Czech Republic
      SPE Multicultural Caucus, CAS Gallery, University of Miami, Miami, FL
      Joyce Elaine Grant National Juried Photography Exhibition, juried byKatherine Ware,
      Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas
      DIA Invitational, juried by Tim Anderson, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO

COLLABORATIONS

2018   Photographic Projections as part of performance of the Hevreh Ensemble, Poland and USA
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw
Galicia Jewish Museum, Jewish Cultural Festival, Krakow
Galleria Labirynt, Lublin
Daniel Center at Simons Rock, Bard College, Great Barrington, MA

2018 Photographic Projections as part of performance by Laura Anderson Barbata

2002 Photographic Projections as backdrop to performance of A Hunger Artist by Hip Pocket Theatre

AWARDS

2023   Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida
2014   Best Portfolio, 2014 Bratislava Portfolio Reviews, Slovakia
2012 Exhibition Preparation Grant, Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies,
   The University of Texas at Austin
2011   Artist in Residence Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, 2011
2010   Top 50, Critical Mass, Photolucida
   Reviewer’s Choice Award, Third Prize, PhotoNOLA
2009 Award of Excellence, Lishui International Photography Festival
      Honorable Mention: People and Figures, The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards Annual
   Exhibition
   Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida
2008 Interdisciplinary Initiative Grant, The Meadows School of Art at SMU
   Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida
2004 Exhibition Preparation Grant for Heaven on a Biscuit, Texas Commission on the Arts

GUEST LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

2021 PhotoVisa, Russia (Online)
2020 26th Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
6-Feet Apart Photographer’s Presentation (Online)
New Photography Collective, Dallas, TX
Portfolio Reviewer, SPESC Portfolio Throwdown, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX
Online Artist Talk, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA (Online)
2019 Dallas Camera Club, Dallas, TX
2018 From Generation to Generation, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
Koslowe Gallery, Westchester, NY
Collaborative project with The Hevreh Ensemblein Poland; Galicia Jewish Museum, Jewish Cultural
Festival, Krakow;
Galleria Labirynt, Lublin; POLIN, Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw
Collaborative project with The Hevreh Ensemble, Bard College at Simons Rock, Barrington, MA
2017 Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA
   Professional Woman Photographers, New York, NY
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
Limmud Conference for Russian Speaking Jews, London, UK
   Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
2016 Loli Kantor and Frank Lopez, Dallas Center for Photography, Dallas, TX
   Congregation Ahavath Sholom Ladies Axillary Donner Luncheon, Fort Worth, TX
2015 World Affairs Council, Dallas, TX
   Tarnów, Poland, Lecture and meeting with the artist
Lorry I. Lokey Annual , visiting artist lecture Portland State University, Portland, OR
   Portfolio Reviewer, ISAS Fine Art Festival 2015, Fort Worth Country Day School , TX
   Meadows School of the Arts, visiting artist Southwestern Methodist University
2014   Texas Christian University, Book Launch Lecture
   Palladium Printing Demo, Graduate class of Photography, University of Texas at Arlington
2013   NN Theater, Lublin, Poland, in conjunction with Exhibition at the NN Gallery
   Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX, visiting artist
       Brno Czech Republic, 35 mm Daguerreotype Demo workshop
2012   FotoFest, Houston, guest speaker at Mary Virginia Swanson’s Lecture presentation.
   Lecture title: Signing a Book Contract
   The University of Texas at Arlington, Guest Artist Lecture
   Bruno Shultz Festival, Drohobych, Ukraine
   Country Day School, Fort Worth, TX
2011   Fort Worth Art Institute, Fort Worth, TX
   Documentary Photography Workshop, Kharkiv, Ukraine
   Lecturer and Portfolio reviewer, Chernihiv International Photography Festival, Chernihiv, Ukraine
2010   Jewish Community Center, Austin, TX
   Department of Photojournalism and Photography, The University of Texas at Austin
   Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the Harry Ransom Center,
   The University of Texas at Austin
2009   The Art Institute, Dallas, TX
   Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
2008   Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

COLLECTIONS

Bochnia-Muzeum, Bochnia Poland
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Galicia Jewish Museum, Krakow, Poland
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Lishui Museum of Photography, Lishui, China
Lviv National Museum, Lviv, Ukraine
Drohobych / Bruno Schulz Museum, Drohobych, Ukraine
Beit Dan Center, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
Robert I. Kahn Gallery at Congregation Emanu El, Houston, TX
The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
Private collections in the United States and abroad

BOOKS

2024    Call Me Lola. In Search of Mother; Hatje Cantz Verlag
2017    From Generation to Generation, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA (Group Exhibition Catalog)
2014    Beyond the Forest: Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe, 2004 - 2012, The University of Texas Press.
2009    There was a Forest, Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Today, 2005-2008, Self-Published (Limited edition of 500)
2004    Heaven on a Biscuit: An Extended Portrait of Hip Pocket Theatre, Arlington Museum of Art, TX (Exhibition Catalog)

SELECTED INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, APPEARANCES

2020   Member Spotlight, Texas Photographic Society, May 2020
2017 PaknTreger, Magazine of the Yiddish Book Center, Issue no. 75
            The Boston Globe, essay By Mark Feeney, February 24, 2017
            What Will you Rememebr? Immigrants All! Blog by Ellen Spring, February 1, 2017
Amherst Bulletin, Photo Exhibit looks at Jewish Life in Poland And Ukraine, April 17, 2017 by Steve Pfarrer
Daily Hampshire Gazette, April 26, 2017 by Steve Pfarrer
2016 Familial Memories become Contemporary Art in the San Francisco Contemporary
JewishExhibit, by Robert Nagler Miller, Dec 1, 2016
Congregation Ahavat Shalom, Annual Donors Luncheon Speaker, Fort Worth, TX April 10, 2016
Dallas Center for Photography, lecture program, guest speaker, March 16, 2016
2015 PhotoEye Book Review by Christopher J Johnson, May 21, 2015
      Elizabeth Avedon BlogSpot, May 20, 2015
      Crusade For The Art, Focal Point, Interview by Jennifer Schwartz , May 18 2015
      The World, Public Radio International, by Alina Simon, March 18, 2015
      Austin American–Statesman, Austin, TX, by Nicole Villalpando, March 14, 2015
      Art and Seek, National Public Radio, KERA-Dallas, by Ann Boswell, January 16, 2015
      Buffalo Almanack, Featured photographer and interview, March 15, 2015
      The New Yorker, by Genevieve Fussell, February 19, 2015
      Dallas Morning News, Guy Reynolds, February 15, 2015
      LensCratch, Featured by Aline Smithson, January 3, 2015
      Jewish Outlook, Austin, TX, by Rebecca Cohen, February 1, 2015
2014 Vasa Project, Vienna, Austria, January, 2014, online gallery
      UT Press, Q&A with Loli Kantor, University of Texas at Austin, December 16, 2014
2012   Fototazo, “The Image: Loli Kantor,” May 3, online
2011   PDN (Photo District News) Photo of The Day, June 16
2010 Art of Photography Show Catalogue 2009, exhibition catalogue
   LensWork (and LensWork Extended) Issue no. 87, March-April, pp. 58-89
2009 Lishui International Photography Festival Catalogue, exhibition catalogue
   The WPGA Annual 2009: The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards, exhibition catalogue
   Featured Artist, Virtual Gallery, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, online
   One World Portfolio Review Catalogue, PhotoAlliance
2008   A Portrait of Three Artists, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 2
      Two Artists, Two Backgrounds, Texas Jewish Post, November 6
      Second Generation Survivors: Growing Up With Emotional Fallout, Fort WorthStar-Telegram, April 8, Online

EDUCATION

2001 – Present
Independent Studies - Photography workshops and courses. Studied with: Craig Barber, Richard Doherty, Darius Himes, David Michael Kennedy, Peter Helmes Feresten, Annette
Fournet, Mary Ellen Mark, Leighton McWilliams, Sylvia Plachy, Jan Pohribny Patricia Richards, Mary Virginia Swanson,

1970-1973
Physiotherapist, Assaf Harofe Hospital, affiliated with Tel Aviv University, Israel.
English Literature, Beer Sheva University, 1969-1970