About The Artist
Lawrence Lazare is a photographer and writer who is currently pursuing a BFA in Studio Art at the University of West Florida. He spent the first decade of his career in the music business as a promoter, booking agent, and artist manager. In 1995, he became part of the first wave to build the commercial internet. He spent 25 years as a product manager specializing in R&D and new product development for large media companies. During the last part of his career, he built AI-based search tools for photographers and filmmakers and holds two patents for AI image-based search and categorization.
In 2020, Lazare became legally blind after losing his central vision from Stargardt’s, a genetic retinal disease, forcing him into an early retirement. He decided to return to college to pursue a BFA in Studio Art, focusing on film photography. His photographs have been displayed in museums and galleries in Michigan, New York, Florida, and New Orleans. He writes on the intersection of blindness and photography on Medium.com.
In 2024, his first collection of photographs, The Museum Gaze, was published by F2.8 Press.
To learn more about his work, visit www.lawrencelazare.com.
About The Piece
When I Leave This World is a meditation on the end of life, what it might look like, and what we want to leave behind. On July 9, 2025, at age 64, Lazare outlived his mother, who died from a 13-year-long battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. It was this milestone that led to the creation of the piece.
Created as part of the BEYOND residency at the University of West Florida, When I Leave This World was imagined as a one-time performance piece where members of the residency answered questions about the end of life. At the urging of Professor Jim Jipson, the piece evolved into a video-based work, with an an accompanying website, where members of the public can participate in the project.
About the BEYOND… Residency
BEYOND… is a dynamic new exhibition at The University of West Florida Art Gallery that invites visitors into the heart of the artistic process-where curiosity, collaboration, and self-discovery take precedence over rigid technique.
Born from a student-driven initiative and shaped by Professor Jim Jipson’s guiding philosophy of “playing until an answer comes”, the show emerges from Beyond Ideas and Concepts, an Art & Design course turned summer residency. Cohabiting the gallery space with their professor, students engaged in prompt-driven exercises that prioritize process over product, allowing ideas to unfold through reflection, conversation, and intuitive exploration. The residency resulted in an exhibition that challenges viewers to feel first and think second.