Currently based in Mebane, North Carolina, Phillip Loken was born in Texas and has lived in various cities and towns across North Carolina since age four. His photography is intimately tied to his lived experiences as a Black man in the American South. He wants to capture the rich history and vibrant cultural expressions that influence the lives of the people he makes images of. Loken's work has been exhibited nationally and he was recently awarded the 2024 Collections Award from The Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University’s Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. In 2024, Loken exhibited work at the Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, The Southeastern Center for Photography, in Lake City, South Carolina’s ArtFields 2024 Competition, and the Durham Art Guild’s Truist Gallery. In 2023, his work was part of the It Ain't All Black And White group exhibition at Raleigh, NC's Block Gallery during Click! Photography Festival, and the group exhibition Black and White: 2023 at Black Box Gallery in Portland, Oregon. In 2022, Loken participated in the Give Black Raleigh Her Flowers' exhibition at Anchorlight Gallery in Raleigh, N.C.. In 2021, Loken participated in the exhibition BLACK GAZE: Representation, Identity, and Expression at The Light Factory Photo Arts Center. As a professional photographer, Loken has worked with a variety of organizations and companies, including the City of Raleigh, CreativeMornings, the North Carolina Museum of Art, NoirBnb, Special Olympics North Carolina, and Woodforest National Bank. His photographs have also been licensed for use by the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, Verizon’s Go90 docuseries American Down Low, and Walter Magazine. Loken was featured in a documentary film, Creative NC: An Introspective Look at Creative Culture, which premiered in 2017 at the North Carolina Museum of History.