2026 Chico Attendees Series
Photographer Lisa Jayne Cramer joins Michael Chovan-Dalton from the 2026 Chico Review to talk about some very personal work involving relationship, grief, and reconciliation.
This work has recently been recognized through the inaugural Ephemere Photobook Grant in 2026 and is scheduled to be published by Ephemere Tokyo in October 2026.
https://www.lisajaynecramer.com
https://www.instagram.com/lisajaynecramer/
Lisa Jayne Cramer is an Australian photographer based in Melbourne/Naarm.
For as long as she can remember, she has felt most at peace holding a camera. Drawn to analogue photography and performative self-portraiture, she found a way to express how she experiences and understands the world.
Cramer’s photographic practice is a deeply personal enquiry into love, longing, grief and beauty. Drawing upon qualities of abstract expressionism, she explores the constant presence of absence through collage, performative imagery and metaphor. Flowers, particularly roses and lilies, recur throughout her work as symbols of fertility, decay, femininity and resilience, becoming vessels for both beauty and sorrow.
Her photographs have been exhibited throughout Australia and internationally, including in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the United States and Japan. Her work is held in private collections across Australia, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Mexico. She has been published in FotoNostrum Magazine (Barcelona, 2024) and Eyes on the World (Kamira Institute, Paris, 2025).
Cramer is a proud alumna of the 2025 Long Term Program: The Photobook at Penumbra Foundation, New York, through which she developed her first photobook, FLOWER under ether. The artist-produced edition was completed in December 2025 and is held in the permanent collection of State Library Victoria.
In 2026, FLOWER under ether was awarded the inaugural Ephemere Photobook Grant. A new Japan-produced edition is currently being developed in collaboration with Ephemere Tokyo, with publication planned for October 2026. Cramer was also selected to participate in Chico Review in Montana, USA, in 2026.
This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club
Begin Building your dream photobook library today at
https://charcoalbookclub.com
The Chico Review is the country’s premier Photobook Retreat. Organized by Charcoal Book Club, The Chico Review takes place over six nights at Chico Hot Springs Resort, near Livingston Montana. Applicants will spend the week with over twenty of the most influential and creative photographers, book makers, gallerists, museum curators, and photobook publishers in the industry.
https://chicoreview.com
https://www.charcoalworkshops.com