About Lakes Were Rivers
Lakes Were Rivers (LWR), a collective currently comprised of eight artists that formed in 2008, makes work informed by the theory and the practice of photography, exhibits work individually and collectively, and publishes limited-edition books. Based in Austin, Texas with members living throughout the United States, LWR has won numerous awards and accolades — including a Critic’s Pick (Artforum), an Idea Fund Grant (Warhol Foundation), and Best Museum Show 2013 nomination (Austin Critics Table Awards) — and has been featured in many exhibitions — including Strange Pilgrims (The Contemporary Austin), Contemporary Photographic Practice and the Archive (Harry Ransom Center), Artifact/Souvenir (Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum with Texas Biennial), and Panta Rei (Box 13 Artspace with FotoFest International Biennial). Members include Leigh Brodie, Elizabeth Chiles, Jessica Mallios, Mike Osborne, Jason Reed, Susan Scafati Shahan, Adam Schreiber, and Barry Stone.
The name takes its inspiration from the fact that all the lakes in Texas save one were once rivers, as well as the notion of photography's pooling of the river of time.