"Lawrence Manning is a visual artist whose work reflects and builds upon skills and knowledge acquired as a professional photographer. In his photography career, he created thousands of photographs for commercial advertising and marketing, specializing in lifestyle images honoring his love of working with people.
Lawrence began taking pictures in his twenties while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching English in the early 1970s in Liberia and Ethiopia. Born and raised in Chicago, the experience of living overseas in a developing country changed his life. After receiving his masters degree in audio/visual technology from Indiana University in 1975, Lawrence served as assistant director of Educational Technology at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. Meanwhile, he continued his pursuit of photographing cultures and societies, which was noted by National Geographic and the Black Star Agency, NY. With their encouragement, Lawrence ambitiously decided to pursue a career in photography. After a long successful commercial career,
he is now working full-time as a visual artist.
