Lori Grinker became fascinated by photography as a teenager when her father brought home the new SX-70 Polaroid Land camera, which she first experimented with while taking a bubble bath.

In 2015, following a long career in documentary photography, Grinker received an MFA in Visual Arts. Her work presents non-linear narratives addressing history, memory, and identity, while highlighting our commonalities and the transcendence of everyday experience.

She has three published books, MIKE TYSON (powerHouse 2022), AFTERWAR; Veterans from a World in Conflict (de.MO, 2005); The Invisible Thread (JPS, 1989). A multimedia memoir, Six Days from Forty, and All the Little Things, exploring memory, loss and love are in progress. 

Grinker’s photographs are held in many private and public collections including the ICP, Jewish Museum NYC; Museum of Fine Arts Houston; San Francisco MOMA; Israel Museum. Awards and grants include the Bob and Diane Fund; Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Orange County Arts Council; NYFA; W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fellowship; Ernst Haas Award; Open Society; Hasselblad Foundation; Center Santa Fe; World Press Foundation.

Grinker is an Assistant Professor of Journalism & Design at The New School, a senior member of Contact Press Images and is represented by CLAMP Art Gallery NYC.