Light Work: 2025 Grants in Photography

With enormous pleasure, we present the 50th Annual Light Work Grants in Photography! The 2025 recipients are Sarah Knobel (St. Lawrence), Joe Librandi-Cowan (Onondaga County), and Lida Suchy (Onondaga County). The two runners-up are Marna Bell (Onondaga County) and Adrian Francis (Onondaga County).

This year’s judge was Marina Chao (a curator at CPW in Kingston, NY), who writes: “From an unexpected approach to plastic waste to portraits of Ukrainian civic leaders to an exploration of home, family, and memory, this year’s grantees address subjects that are intimate and personal, urgent and political, in innovative, collaborative, and deeply felt ways.”

The Light Work Grants are part of our ongoing effort to support and encourage Central New York artists working in photography and related mediums within a fifty-mile radius of Syracuse. Established in 1975, the Light Work Grants are among the oldest photography fellowships in the country.

An opening reception will be held in the Jeffrey J. Hoone Gallery at Light Work on July 25th, from 5-7 PM.