Luke Gilford

Luke Gilford is a writer, director and photographer from Evergreen, Colorado. After studying Art at UCLA, Gilford’s photography and films have been exhibited around the world; including MoMA in New York and FOAM in Amsterdam. Since 2012, Gilford’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, building Gilford’s recognizable visual language, often including a strong sense of intimacy with his subjects. Gilford’s photography monograph, National Anthem, was published in 2020 by Damiani Books and is currently a traveling exhibition to museums and galleries internationally. A documentation of America’s queer rodeo subculture, Vanity Fair praised “National Anthem is rich with Gilford’s tenderness for his subjects while imploring us to rethink the hegemony of the American cowboy.” Gilford wrote and directed a feature film adaptation of National Anthem, premiering at Toronto International Film Festival and South by Southwest in 2023, which Roger Ebert hailed as “a blend of awe and grace… It’s Gilford’s work with performers and characters that announces a major talent.”