Erika Langley (born 1967) is an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and writer.

Early life and education

Born in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

in 1967, she has been based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

since 1992. She worked from 1992 to 2004 as dancer at the

Lusty Lady The Lusty Lady is a pair of defunct peep show establishments, one in downtown Seattle and one in the North Beach district of San Francisco. The Lusty Lady was made famous by the labor activism of its San Francisco workers and the publication o ...

, a

peep show A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...

in Seattle. Langley is a graduate of the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

Work

Her 1997 book, ''The Lusty Lady: Photographs and Texts'' combined memoir, photographs, and sections about several of her co-workers there. She originally became interested in the Lusty Lady in terms of photographing dancers, but was informed by management that the only way she would have access to do that was if she danced there herself. She ended up working there for twelve years. The photos she took there resulted in her book ''The Lusty Lady'' and in several art exhibits including one in 1994 that an administrator of the

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

Arts Commission Gallery described at the time as that gallery's "most potentially controversial exhibit." Her work was given an entire wall of the 1999–2000

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

exhibit "Hereabouts: Northwest Pictures by Seven Photographers," after the same museum had canceled a 1998 exhibit at almost the last minute. More recently, Langley has been documenting the erosion of Washaway Beach at

North Cove North Cove is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is part of the East Suffolk district, located around east of Beccles and west of Lowestoft. It merges with the village of Barnby and the villages shar ...

just south of

Grayland, Washington Grayland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 953 at the 2010 census. Geography Grayland is located at in the southwestern corner of Grays Harbor County. To the west is the ...

, one of the fastest eroding places in the Western Hemisphere. Her work is included in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum.

Notes

External links

Erika Langley Photography official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langley, Erika 1967 births Living people People from Arlington County, Virginia Rhode Island School of Design alumni Writers from Seattle 21st-century American women writers American photojournalists American women photographers American women journalists Journalists from Virginia Women photojournalists