Sheila McLaughlin makes photographs that linger in the space between what is remembered and what slips away. Since the mid-1970s, her practice has engaged portraiture within the framework of social documentary photography, marked by an acute sensitivity to solitude, memory, and human resilience.
Her early black-and-white work, made with a 35mm Leica in New York and Paris, evolved into large- and medium-format projects that move between direct portraiture and experimental form. Across these shifts, McLaughlin has sustained a commitment to exploring how photography can both reveal presence and register absence.
Her work has been widely exhibited and collected. She is currently completing Braided Memory, a visual memoir that interlaces image and narrative to reflect on the interplay of personal history and remembrance.
Her early black-and-white work, made with a 35mm Leica in New York and Paris, evolved into large- and medium-format projects that move between direct portraiture and experimental form. Across these shifts, McLaughlin has sustained a commitment to exploring how photography can both reveal presence and register absence.
Her work has been widely exhibited and collected. She is currently completing Braided Memory, a visual memoir that interlaces image and narrative to reflect on the interplay of personal history and remembrance.