Lawrence Sumulong photographs, 2016-2017

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Summary

Creator:
Sumulong, Lawrence, 1987- and Archive of Documentary Arts (Duke University)
Abstract:
Lawrence Sumulong is a Filipino-American photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Collection consists of 15 black-and-white oversize inkjet images printed on banana-fiber paper, documenting the lived experiences and memories of Marshallese and Bikinian survivors who were forced to leave their Pacific island homes because of the nuclear bomb tests carried out in the late 1940s by the U.S. military. The Marshallese and Bikinian diaspora explored in these photographs is based in Springdale, Arkansas. Acquired by the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Extent:
3 Linear Feet (2 oversize folders)
Language:
English
Collection ID:
RL.12025

Background

Scope and content:

This portfolio by photographer Lawrence Sumulong, titled "'No Longer Can I Stay; Its True.' The Marshallese in Springdale, Arkansas," consists of 15 black-and-white oversize images printed on banana-fiber paper, documenting the lived experiences and memories of Marshallese and Bikinian survivors who were forced to leave their Pacific island homes because of the nuclear bomb tests carried out in the late 1940s by the U.S. military.

The Marshallese and Bikinian diaspora explored in these photographs is based in Springdale, Arkansas. Many of them are working in the poultry industry there. Images include portraits of the few survivors who remain, their families and descendants, the exteriors and interiors of residences, and a few views of Springdale. The titles and accompanying captions were created by the photographer. The inkjet prints each measure 25x36 inches.

The work in this collection received the Rubenstein Library's Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Award in 2022.

From the artist's statement: "In 2016 I looked at daily life in Springdale, Arkansas, where the largest community of Marshallese in the United States currently resides. Specifically, I focused on the traumatic history of the Bikinians, a community of about 5,000+ Pacific Islanders, whose homeland in the Bikini Atoll remains radioactive and uninhabited due to years of deadly U.S. nuclear testing. Pre and post covid-19 pandemic, the successes and struggles of both the Bikinian and general Marshallese population offer a complicated look into what it means to be a part of American society. I wanted to learn from an adjacent and related ethnic experience, to foster empathy across cultures, and understand who we are as Americans in this new administration and era. To that end, I saw the use of printing on banana fibre paper to be a visual way of connecting my own heritage with the Marshallese experience in that it is a crop endemic to both the Marshall Islands and the Philippines."

Biographical / historical:

Lawrence Sumulong (1987- ) is a Filipino-American photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. The work in this collection received the Rubenstein Library's Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Award in 2022.

From the artist's statement: "I run a commercial studio with my wife, Sarah, and our two Siamese-Maine Coon cats, Miko and Oliver. My personal work looks for ever-shifting approaches to documentary storytelling and imagery as a means of both questioning my own point of view as well as depicting reality. My perspective reflects how particular historical moments alter, disrupt, and shape one's society and sense of self. Despite the United States existing as both my place of residence and birthplace, my work for over a decade had focused exclusively on my relationship to the Philippines. Most recently, I've been documenting emerging Asian American and Pacific Islander communities at a time where it feels absolutely necessary to depict the nuances within the panoply of AAPI experiences and histories, while also thinking about intersections."

Acquisition information:
The Lawrence Sumulong photographs were received from Lawrence Sumulong by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2022.
Processing information:

Processed and described by Paula Jeannet, July 2022

Accession(s) represented in this collection guide: 2022-0054

Physical facet:
15 photographic prints
Dimensions:
25x36 inches

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Lawrence Sumulong photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1844n