NONA FAUSTINE | OCEAN VUONG | QIANA MESTRICH. Center for Photography at Woodstock . United States

This winter-spring, CPW (formerly the Center for Photography at Woodstock) presents a dynamic line-up of exhibitions spotlighting visionary voices in contemporary photography—both emerging and established— whose work challenges conventions of representation, history, and belonging. Headlining the program is the first retrospective of the late Nona Faustine, whose fearless, history-defining images transformed the conversation on race and representation in America; the first public exhibition of photographs by acclaimed poet and novelist Ocean Vuong, revealing a powerful new dimension of his creative voice; and Qiana Mestrich, winner of CPW’s 2025 Saltzman Prize—honoring her reclamation of women of color in the visual history of the American workplace. Together, these exhibitions continue CPW’s commitment to showcasing artists who expand the possibilities of lens-based practice and who use photography as a tool to spark cultural reflection and social justice.

The first-ever retrospective of artist Nona Faustine (1977–2025) celebrates one of the most fearless and transformative voices in contemporary photography. Drawing from her multiple groundbreaking series—including White Shoes, Mitochondria, and My Country— the exhibition illuminates how Faustine electrified the art world and redefined the political image through maternal, ancestral, and feminist lenses. Faustine’s unflinching and often shocking photographs boldly interrogate America’s racist past, most notably in self-portraits taken at former slave auction sites, while her intimate depictions of her mother, daughter, and sister honor Black womanhood as a source of history, knowledge, and resilience. The exhibition will be accompanied by a limited-edition artist’s book published by CPW, offering intimate insight into Nona Faustine’s creative process and her collaboration with her sister, Channon Faustine.

Award-winning poet, novelist, and essayist Ocean Vuong (The Emperor of Gladness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Time Is a Mother) has emerged as one of the defining voices of his generation–an artist who renders a soulful, nuanced representation of the immigrant working-class experience in America. With this first public exhibition of his photographs, Vuong extends his deeply personal vision beyond the written word, revealing how his storytelling finds new expression in images. Although Vuong has long made photographs—often turning to them in the process of writing—this marks the first time his visual work is being presented publicly. His images, ranging from fluorescent pink-lit nail salons to quiet domestic interiors, capture the textures of immigrant and working-class life in America with rare tenderness, offering a profoundly personal meditation on loss, survival, and belonging. This presentation centers on an up-close body of photographs of his younger brother, taken as the two navigated grief, care, and renewal following their mother’s death. A limited-edition artist’s book, co-published by CPW and 1080PRESS, weaves together Vuong’s words and images, extending his deeply personal vision across visual and literary forms.

This exhibition features images by Qiana Mestrich, the recipient of the CPW 2025 Saltzman Prize for Emerging Photographer of the Year. The prestigious distinction was awarded to Mestrich by a jury consisting of Dawoud Bey, Stephen Shore, and Lucy Sante. CPW’s new exhibition includes works from the artist’s ongoing collage series, The Reinforcements, which Mestrich began in 2023 to address the absence in visual archives of women of color in the 1970s and ‘80s American workplace. Through found and personal images, Mestrich constructs a speculative archive that places women of color at the center of familiar office environments–fax machines, telephones, office furniture–bringing to light the important roles they have held in the workplace while critiquing their erasure from its visual history. The exhibition is accompanied by a limited-edition artist’s book published by CPW and produced by 1080PRESS.