PUBLICATIONS/press
ALL ABOUT PHOTO
First Place Winner
March 28, 2024
https://www.all-about-photo.com
FLOAT Magazine
February 2024
”Distant Dialogues”
Curated by Lisa Beard, Micah McCoy, and Vann T. Powell
https://www.floatmagazine.us/online-exhibitions
FLOAT Magazine
2024
”Sleeping Beauty”
https://www.floatmagazine.us/book-library/books/lydia-panas
SUPERPRESENT
Winter 2023
https://superpresentmag.com/
PHOTO BOOKS NOW
”Ghost Portraits”
December 6, 2022
https://mailchi.mp/fff9adf4e38a/photo-books-now-
J. SYBYLLA SMITH
”Phenomenal Women”
June 24, 2022
https://www.jsybyllasmith.com/know-about/phenomenal-women
F-STOP MAGAZINE
”Sleeping Beauty by Lydia Panas”
March 31, 2022
https://www.fstopmagazine.com
L’Oeil de la Photographie
March 9, 2022
MW Publishes "Sleeping Beuaty"
Aesthetica Magazine
February 11, 2022
https://aestheticamagazine.com/portraits-of-becoming/
Aesthetica Magazine
November 2021
https://aestheticamagazine.com/a-cultural-shift/?fbclid
Art Daily
November 17, 2021
https://artdaily.cc/news/141141/MW-Editions-publishes-Sleeping-Beauty
All About Photo.com
October 25, 2021
1https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-articles/photo-article/
F-Stop Magazine
October 14, 2021
https://www.fstopmagazine.com/blog/2021/10/hear-me-roar
Northwestern Press
March 25, 2021
Bernadette Sukley
https://www.tnonline.com/20210325/artists-work-centers-on-fear-longing-triumph/
Digital Photo Pro Magazine
September/October 2020
Jill Waterman
https://www.zinio.com/reader/readsvg/471400/18
Elle.com
https://www.elle.com/it/emozioni/psicologia/a26627850/
Simona Marani
March 12, 2019
Morning Call
”None of the women in Lydia Panas’ Sleeping Beauty', photography exhibit on view at the
Baker Center for the Arts at Muhlenberg College, are sleeping. That clever negation of title
is intentional. Despite their reclining poses, her subjects seem very much awake, as
conscious of being gazed at as we are of gazing at them. The viewer becomes not a
voyeur, but a participant, making this exhibit eerily interactive.”
Steve Siegel
March 8, 2019
https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/mc-ent-lydia-panas-
L’OEIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE
February 22, 2019
https://loeildelaphotographie.com
LENSCRATCH
”Artist Lydia Panas has mined her own perspective of being a daughter of immigrants and the elusive notion of
home to consider self mirrored in the faces of women and family… {She} has a new project, Sleeping Beauty that
uses large format photography and video to present her subjects in classical poses of vulnerability but in fact,
they are incredibly real and dynamic. The addition of video adds new layers of consideration as we bear witness
to the sitter’s energy and potential. In an era of reality tv, plastic surgery, and women-as-barbie-doll mentalities,
Sleeping Beauty is a tonic to those fabricated and simplistic portrayals of women. Lydia’s photographs bring
a power and beauty to a woman’s humanity with these quietly compelling and potent portraits.”
Aline Smithson
http://lenscratch.com/2019/02/lydia-panas-sleeping-beauty/
February 15, 2019
SILVER EYE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
“In these images, Panas allows us to be privy to the specificity of female touch and makes visible the subtle differences in
the way women support one another physically. When the young women in Panas’ photos stand together, their touch has the
quality of a considered carelessness. In “Marguerite and Quinn”, we see two girls easing into one another’s shoulders, and in
“Ilana, Eryn, and Melissa”, the young women form an entwined pile together on a hillside. While eager to prove their closeness
with casual gestures, we also see these young women look affirmed through being seen and accepted by their peers.”
Kate Kelley, Assistant Curator
February 12, 2019
https://silvereye.org/exhibitions/honorable-mention-lydia-panas
THE NEW YORKER
March 19, 2018
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/19
ZEN CAMERA (Watson Guptill/Random House)
"Photographer Lydia Panas, one of my early students, has changed the shape of portraiture through her honest and
psychologically astute photographs of people. The respectful exchange that develops between photographer and sitter reveals the
longing for connection inherent in the human condition and brings to the surface our many fears about exposing who we are. She
says, "My portraits attempt to depict what it means to be a complicated human being. They contain our secrets, fears and
wishes, not just those unique to me. I am inspired by people who are honest with themselves.
This takes courage and leads to positive outcomes on every level."
David Ulrich, 2018
http://creativeguide.com/zen-camera/
THE SLENDER THREAD / David Ulrich
http://theslenderthread.org/featured-photographers-zen-camera-hengki-koentjoro-lydia-panas/
March 18, 2018
PHOTO DISTRICT NEWS
"Lydia Panas' ability to capture and convey the complexity of human
relationships has made her a rising star in contemporary portraiture."
Conor Risch
LENSCRATCH
Aline Smithson
"Lydia Panas lives on a farm in Pennsylvania, but her work has become an international phenomenon.
Just this year, she has exhibitions in Poland, Italy, Germany and China, many in the U.S. and her work
has appeared in just about every major publication, including The New York Times and Photo District News.
Her masterful psychological portraits, captured with a view camera,
have resonated with collectors and curators in a significant way."
http://lenscratch.blogspot.com
HARVEY BENGE
"American photographer Lydia Panas makes pictures with a rich conceptual and
visual intensity. Her particular gift is an ability to make portraits that rise above the
usual cliched seen-it-all-before variety. Her color palette is almost gothic, dark,
and mysterious. The work perplexes and fascinates drawing you in, there is
an almost urgent need to know more about her subjects".
October 7, 2015
http://harveybenge.blogspot.com
SQUAREMAG
April 15, 2018
https://issuu.com/square_magazine/docs/901-fr-gb
NAILED
https://nailedmagazine.com/photography/promise-land-lydia-panas/
March 26, 2018
LENSCRATCH / CHOCOLATE DARK
February 7, 2018
"These sensual studies move beyond the visual, manifesting taste and smell,
inducing states of bliss and self-indulgence. Most of all, her photographs reveal
unique beauty that speaks to possibility."
http://lenscratch.com/2018/02/lydia-panas-chocolate/
FLOAT MAGAZINE
January 28, 2018
https://www.floatmagazine.us/portfolios/lydia-panas
STYLEWEEKLY.COM
"...Panas' young woman in three-quarter pose is arresting. Lips parted, freckled fair
skin, and a tangle of strawberry blonde curls, "Meredith" seems simultaneously
vulnerable and defiant as she leans out from the dark blue backdrop."
http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/icons-alone/Content?oid=2221932
July 7, 2015
HYPERTEXT MAGAZINE
October 23, 2015
https://www.hypertextmag.com/something-like-love-by-lydia-panas/
LENSCRATCH
"The mark of a great photographer is when their subject reveals an essence not
intended for the camera, but instead pulls back the curtain on who they are, if only
for a second. I have been a fan of Lydia Panas' portraits over the years - Her exploration
of family, of relationships, of the connectedness to the earth-and have appreciated the
truthfulness and authenticity of her portraiture. Her new project, Longing in Black, is about
an intimate connection between the photographer, who feels like a "soul-catcher",
and the sitter, who wants their soul to be captured."
Aline Smithson, August 5, 2015
http://lenscratch.com/2015/08/lydia-panas-2/
LENSCRATCH
"Lydia Panas is one of the great portrait photographers bringing layers of psychological nuance to her images.:
Aline Smithson February 26, 2013
http://lenscratch.com/2013/02/success-stories-lydia-panas/
READING EAGLE
'Lydia Panas' 'ghosts that linger and memories that endure at Albright College'
"These photos need to be seen en masse for their full dramatic effect; their unified treatment
of subject matter and skilled photographic technique. As pensive portraits of the past, she speaks to
the sense of the forlorn in each of us that harbors something deep, intense and strangely beautiful."
Ron Schira, June 7, 2015
http://www.readingeagle.com/life/article/art-review-lydia-panas-ghosts-that-linger-memories-that-endure-at-albright-college
RAIN TAXI REVIEW OF BOOKS
"These are powerful images, and they conjure palimpsests of insights into our shared
cultural condition. After viewing them, you'll feel the mark of Abel on you too, however
ineffable it might be."
Kelly Everding
Volume 17 NO. 3, Fall 2012 (#67)
http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2012fall/print.php
HYPERALLERGIC
"There is a complicated range of emotions depicted in Panas' photographs, and all
are presented with an honesty and nakedness that is almost heart-breaking to page through.
...without judgement, we are left looking at our own emotional reflections, staring into faces
expressing all too familiar vulnerability, uncertainty, sadness, curiosity, love and tenderness."
Alissa Guzman
http://hyperallergic.com/57104/lydia-panas-the-mark-of-abel/
PHOTO EYE MAGAZINE
Best Books Nomination
"Exceptional portraiture that is evocative, compelling, timeless.
Each image gradually peels the layers of psyches belonging to family
members and friends in her life. This is a treasure of a book.
Susan Burnstine
http://www.photoeye.com/
http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation
THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION BLOG
Breaking Through the Facade: What the Hands Reveal in Lydia Panas' "Figs"
"...There is an underlying intimacy between the subject and photographer in this and all the
other photographs in the series, as if Panas has been able to extract each sitter's vulnerability,
breaking through the unreliability of facial expressions and using their subconscious movements
and poses with the food objects to reveal their true emotions and thoughts.
Liza Strelka
http://blog.phillipscollection.org
PORTRAIT SHOW BRINGS PHOTOGRAPHER-SUBJECT ENCOUNTERS INTO FOCUS
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/26
GUP
"Flipping through the Mark of Abel for the first time is a little bit like a first date.
It will take longer, more effort, a second chance, to dig and scratch at the surface
to discern what the person truly holds. It implies a commitment to decipher-and-
surrender to -their masks, and the task becomes engrossing, as almost each
photograph seems to carry a plethora of secret emotions and subplots begging
to be interpreted. If you look long enough into the eyes of her subjects,
the staring down contest fades away and you start to discern what makes
each person unique, you imagine the cracks in the wall of their severity, and
you end up moved to the core by their frailty.
Marie - Charlotte Peze
http://www,gupmagazine.com
FLAVORPILL
"Panas' somber, lushly-colored group portraits in The Mark of Abel, her first published book of photography,
reveal the unspoken relationships and dynamics between family members. Her images, exhibited
this month at Rayko are by turns fascinating and haunting, mysterious and deeply revealing."
Bonnie Chan
ELIZABETH AVEDON BLOGSPOT
http://elizabethavedon.blogspot.com/2015/05/lydia-panas
May 23, 2015
THE DAILY BEAST
BEST COFFEE TABLE BOOK OF 2012
"Lydia Panas' group portraiture...represented in this monograph suggests a
dark awkwardness that while not impermeable is haunting by way of an oblique subtlety."
Robert Birnbaum
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2012/12/09/
PDN PHOTO ANNUAL 2012, The Year In Photography
Photo Books/Winner's Gallery
http://pdnphotoannual.com/gallery/2012/
SIXONEZERO MAGAZINE
The Fundamental Artist
"Her appreciation of nature's essentials runs deep and is felt on her farm in Kutztown, PA.
After decades of tree growth, the family home now sets amongst a canopy of woodland. It
has served as a splendid backdrop for so many of her photographs. The early experience
she had, reinvigorating the countryside with her father, echoes many of thematic connections
that she explores within the frame of her lens today.
Marc Londo
http://sixonezeromag.com/the-fundamental-artist
CONSCIENTIOUS BLOG
Jorg Colberg
"What I would really like to stress is the visual richness of the work and the connections these
group portraits force upon the viewer. They will pull you in, whether you want it or not, and that
certainly is something that any photographer can only wish for. The work is also intensely beautiful.
The Mark of Abel - Highly Recommended"
http://jmcolberg.com
LOUPE / Journal of the Photographic Resource Center
Jennifer Urhane
"The more one looks at Lydia Panas' photographs, the more one realizes
what a nuanced version of the contemporary portrait they are. Though
this work could have been another series of blankly staring faces, instead it
is a quiet and careful observation of human behavior and feelings. Among
numerous photographers working in the so-called deadpan aesthetic, Panas
stands out for her subjects that are not unemotional of detached. Where other
portraits quickly betray their emptiness, Panas' draw in and sustain the viewer
because of their layered content and striking beauty.
http://www.bu.edu/prc/newletters/
DEAR DAVE / ISSUE 07
Barbara Pollock
"The pictures are a remarkable accomplishment, especially for a parent.
After all, every parent is an archivist, holding up a camera to try to capture posterity.
In contrast, Panas lets her children reveal themselves gradually for her photographs
and in so doing, reveals that the camera cannot stop the clock and hold back time.
Her children, standing on her lawn for the minute, will soon leave the nest and enter a
more sophisticated, more urban world. Or at least that's what it feels like from these
pictures. But the world of their futures will not be more complex or more troublesome.
They have already experienced the full range of human challenges - the challenge of
getting along with siblings and the challenge of bonding with their peers -sometimes
failing at these basic primal experiences. All of this can be seen in these photographs,
so different and so much more poignant than your average photo album."
http://deardavemagazine.com/
VASA JOURNAL ON IMAGES AND CULTURE
"...these photographs drew my attention at first sight - something elusive and mysterious
resonated from the faces... They look timeless and full of existential meaning. It was
hard to look away."
"The Mark of Abel", Kehrer Verlag, 2013
Natalya Reznik
http://vjic.org
BLINK Issue 2
Twelve Page Feature Story / Interview with ARam Kim
March 2011, South Korea
http://www.blinkreflex.com/
LENS MAGAZINE
Ten Page Cover Story
Interview with Algai Wang/ March 2010 / China
BLOW MAGAZINE
Issue Seven
Dublin, Ireland
http://www.blowphotomagazine.com
FRANCE PHOTOGRAPHIE
Gilbert Coutelet / December 2012
De L'AIR
France / November 2012
ZWIERCADEO, Warsaw, Poland
Kzrysztof Wyszomirski, Five Page Feature Story
PDN Pulse
Celebrity, Fine Art PhotoPlus Expo 2012
On Making Compelling Portraits
David Walker
http://pdnpulse.com/2012/10/ppe-2012
KRD, SOBAKA
Russia
LANDSCAPE STORIES / PORTRAITS
http://www.landscape stories.net/issue-14
BC ARTS INSIDER
Randl Dube
http://bcartsinsider.wordpress.com/2012/09/27
PHOTO DISTRICT NEWS / EXPOSURES
Conor Risch
PHOTO INTERNATIONAL
Hans Michael Koetzle / Germany
THE MORNING CALL
Steve Siegel
Photographic Series Goes Beneath the Skin
February 18, 2012
"The evocative, often disarming photographs of Kutztown photographer
Lydia Panas reveal that behind most smiles lie uncertainty and self-consciousness.
Her subjects speak to us not with words, but with distracted gazes and enigmatic body language,
unconsciously revealing the flaws and fears that make us so wonderfully,
gloriously human. More than portraits, they are precarious character studies.
http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/arts/museums
FLAKPHOTO FEATURE
George Slade
State of Nature: Encountering Lydia Panas Deeper in the Woods
"The mesmerizing gazes, frank self-presentation, and utter absorption in the
photographic exchange propels Panas' standers (can't call them sitters, can we?)
from within their contained frame and through the fourth wall of spectatorship
into a discomfiting engagement within our space of viewing."
http://flakphoto.com/
SILVER EYE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
"Curator Ellen Fleurov invited more than forty art and photography professionals
from the state - curators, writers, gallery owners, publishers, teachers and bloggers -
to nominate artists they felt were producing innovative and exceptional work.
From rising photographers whose vision will shape the future of the creative landscape to
internationally - known figures such as William Larson and Lydia Panas, this exhibition
attests to the extraordinary talent living and working across our state."
7 X 7 SF
San Francisco, CA
...Four Captivating Solo Art Shows
http://www.7x7.com/arts/culture
DODHO MAGAZINE
Barcelona, Spain
https://dodho.com/after-sargent-by-lydia-panas/
GENTI DI FOTOGRAFIA
Anino XIX N. 56 / Fall 2013
Modena, Italy
http://www.gentidifotografia.it
SAN FRANCISCO WEEKLY Calendar
BEST OF... Michael Singman-Aste / September 13, 2012
http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-09-05/calendar/sibling-rivalry/
LANDSCAPE STORIES Adolescence Issue / September 2012
http://www.landscapestories.net/issue-09?lang=en
ELIZABETH AVEDON BLOG
http://elizabethavedon.blogspot.com/2012/09/lydia-panas-photographs.html
WALL STREET JOURNAL BLOG
Rebecca Horne
http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2012
NEW YORK TIMES BLOG
http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com
NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
A Drug for Down Syndrome
July 29, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
The Last Decision, Darshak Sangavi
December 16, 2009
www.nytimesmagazine.com
1000 WORDS BLOG
Tim Clark
Her fascination with the transition period between childhood and adulthood
and related problems with self-definition is what distinguishes Panas
from other artists...if one takes a closer look at the images, the seemingly normal
group portraits of family and friends turn out to be engaging psychological portraits.
http://1000wordsphotographymagazine
NEWCITY ART
After Classical Portraiture
Michael Weinstein, Chicago
http://art.newsity.com/2012/95/15/
POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY
Planning Portraits
Peter Kolonia
http://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2012/057-tips-fo-planning
PHILADELPHIA CITY PAPER
"...her subjects have a haunting power over viewers, making us painfully aware that
we are seeing into lives that we may not have full permission to see.
Nina Willbach, 2012
http://www.citypaper.net/blogs/criticalmass/BOOKISH-
ART DAILY
Highly charged psychological portraits
Deceber 7, 2011
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp
FLAKPHOTO
http://www.flakphoto.com/
INFORM, ENLIGHTEN, ENTERTAIN
Life: The Year's Best
Anne Moore, Chicago
"Haunting me are the lush, eery photographs of American children,
teens, couples and families in Lydia Panas' first monograph,
The Mark of Abel.
http://www.annemoore.net
THE MORNING CALL
April 3, 2010
”Disarmingly Candid”
Steve Siegel
"Somewhere between conceptual art and portraiture lie the evocative
and often disarming photographs of photographer Lydia Panas. Her subjects
seem at once familiar yet somehow disconnected, their eyes watching us as
we watch them. They are enigmas that beg for interpretation, with gazes
revealing as much- or as little- about themselves as those who view them.
http://articles.mcall.com
fotoMAGAZIN / EDITION
SHOOTING STARS 2011
Manfred Zollner
"First portfolio only, XXL sized fotoMAGAZINR EDITION
at German newsstands including exciting work by Lisa M. Robinson,
Lydia Panas, SImen Johan and many more!
fotomagazin.com
MONTHLY PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine
Essay by Sujong Song, South Korea
FRACTION MAG/ The Dress Show / Melanie McWhorter
http://www.fractionmag.com/group2/group2.html
LENSCRATCH
http://lenscratch.com/2010/10/lydia-panas/
OCTOBER 7, 2010
Morning Call
Lydia Panas’ Portraits Blend Mysterious Smiles and Messages
January 25, 2009
http://articles.mcall.com/2009-01-25
The Morning Call
Changing Perspectives After Years of Focusing on her Children, Photographer Shifts
Lens to a More Grown-Up Place
June 18, 2000
http://articles.mcall.com/2000-06