ARTIST STATEMENT:
“one, one thousand…” is a different kind of love story and one of countless untold family caregiver narratives. This unconventional photo-based documentary offers a glimpse into the challenges of lifelong care experienced by my sister, a solo parent, and my 32-year-old, non-verbal nephew. David is diagnosed with severe autism and a rare, incurable, difficult-to-control form of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Through this collaboration, we give voice to David and serve as witnesses to their behind-closed-doors experiences, using traditional photography, multiple photo-based techniques, and Lori’s handwritten text. The title references counting seizure duration to determine whether immediate medical attention is needed.
BIO:
Debe Arlook (b. 1962) is an award-winning American interdisciplinary photographic artist, author, instructor, and mentor whose work examines memory, meditation, caregiving, and perception. She holds a BA in Visual Communication with a minor in Psychology from American University and a Life Coaching certificate. Drawing on traditional and experimental techniques—including digital and analog processes, mixed media, and collage—she creates projects ranging from abstract and conceptual work to landscape and documentary photography.
Arlook's work has been exhibited at institutions including the Lishui Art Museum, Photo London, Indian Photo Festival, Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Griffin Museum of Photography, Center for Photographic Art, and Los Angeles Center of Photography. Her five-month solo exhibiiton of one, one thousand… was held at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and exhibited at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital.
Awards include 21 Women Photographers: Life's Work, L.A. Photo Curator, Royal Photographic Society Shortlist, Klompching Gallery FRESH 2024 Finalist and People's Choice Award for Witness, and Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50. Her ongoing project, one, one thousand..., received a Working Assumptions Project Grant and has been recognized with honors from CENTER, LensCulture, and Focus Photo L.A.
Arlook's photographs have been featured in All About Photo, Feature Shoot, Lenscratch, Fraction Magazine, L'Oeil de la Photographie, and Rangefinder. Her work is published in photography books including Memory Orchards: Photographers and their Families, california love - a visual mixtape, Perceive Me, and Emptiness Defined. She is co-author of Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Reviews Do's & Don'ts, the first and only book dedicated to the portfolio review process.
Her background in filmmaking, psychology, and life coaching informs a mindful, structured methodology that helps photographers clarify their vision, strengthen their portfolios, and articulate the deeper motivations behind their work.
Arlook teaches at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, and John C. Campbell Folk School. She has presented to the Society for Photographic Education and reviewed portfolios for CENTER Santa Fe and Brigham Young University. She is a Pasadena Photography Arts Advisor, juror, and served as contributing editor to PhotoBook Journal for 6 years. In 2016, she founded Arlook Printing Services, providing project consultation and archival printing for fine art photographers.
She divides her time between Los Angeles and Colorado.
WEB: DebeArlookPhotography.com
IG: @debearlook
“one, one thousand…” is a different kind of love story and one of countless untold family caregiver narratives. This unconventional photo-based documentary offers a glimpse into the challenges of lifelong care experienced by my sister, a solo parent, and my 32-year-old, non-verbal nephew. David is diagnosed with severe autism and a rare, incurable, difficult-to-control form of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Through this collaboration, we give voice to David and serve as witnesses to their behind-closed-doors experiences, using traditional photography, multiple photo-based techniques, and Lori’s handwritten text. The title references counting seizure duration to determine whether immediate medical attention is needed.
BIO:
Debe Arlook (b. 1962) is an award-winning American interdisciplinary photographic artist, author, instructor, and mentor whose work examines memory, meditation, caregiving, and perception. She holds a BA in Visual Communication with a minor in Psychology from American University and a Life Coaching certificate. Drawing on traditional and experimental techniques—including digital and analog processes, mixed media, and collage—she creates projects ranging from abstract and conceptual work to landscape and documentary photography.
Arlook's work has been exhibited at institutions including the Lishui Art Museum, Photo London, Indian Photo Festival, Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Griffin Museum of Photography, Center for Photographic Art, and Los Angeles Center of Photography. Her five-month solo exhibiiton of one, one thousand… was held at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and exhibited at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital.
Awards include 21 Women Photographers: Life's Work, L.A. Photo Curator, Royal Photographic Society Shortlist, Klompching Gallery FRESH 2024 Finalist and People's Choice Award for Witness, and Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50. Her ongoing project, one, one thousand..., received a Working Assumptions Project Grant and has been recognized with honors from CENTER, LensCulture, and Focus Photo L.A.
Arlook's photographs have been featured in All About Photo, Feature Shoot, Lenscratch, Fraction Magazine, L'Oeil de la Photographie, and Rangefinder. Her work is published in photography books including Memory Orchards: Photographers and their Families, california love - a visual mixtape, Perceive Me, and Emptiness Defined. She is co-author of Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Reviews Do's & Don'ts, the first and only book dedicated to the portfolio review process.
Her background in filmmaking, psychology, and life coaching informs a mindful, structured methodology that helps photographers clarify their vision, strengthen their portfolios, and articulate the deeper motivations behind their work.
Arlook teaches at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, and John C. Campbell Folk School. She has presented to the Society for Photographic Education and reviewed portfolios for CENTER Santa Fe and Brigham Young University. She is a Pasadena Photography Arts Advisor, juror, and served as contributing editor to PhotoBook Journal for 6 years. In 2016, she founded Arlook Printing Services, providing project consultation and archival printing for fine art photographers.
She divides her time between Los Angeles and Colorado.
WEB: DebeArlookPhotography.com
IG: @debearlook
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