Laylah Amatullah Barrayn is an award-winning documentary and portrait photographer working in the medium for 20 years. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. Her work has also been published in Vogue, National Geographic, The Washington Post, VOX, NPR, BBC, The Nation, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
She has exhibited nationally and internationally with solo exhibitions at The Museum of the African Diaspora San Francisco; The Taubman Museum of Art (VA); MAK Gallery (London) and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Arts (NY). Her work has been shown collectively at the MANIFESTA Biennale (Italy); Brighton Photo Biennial (UK); The Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin) among other institutions.
Barrayn was included in the Royal Photographic Society’s (UK) Hundred Heroines. She is a 2017 African Great Lakes Reporting Fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation and a finalist for the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University.
She has given talks on her work at Yale University, Harvard University, The International Center of Photography, Tate Modern London, Rochester Institute of Technology, World Press Photo and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She has sat on judging panels for The Alexia Grant, Pictures of the Year International, Getty Images, The Aftermath Project and FotoEvidence.
Barrayn is co-author of MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, the first anthology in nearly 30 years that highlights photography produced by women of African descent. She is a member of Kamoinge, a pioneering collective of African American photographers founded in 1963. Barrayn holds a Masters degree in Art Politics from New York University. She is currently working on a book about contemporary Black photographers due out 2022.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 We Are Present Photoville Festival, Brooklyn, New York
2020 Baye Fall: Roots in Spirituality, Fashion, and Resistance
Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA
2019 Baye Fall: Roots in Spirituality, Fashion, and Resistance
The African American Museum of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Baye Fall: Roots in Spirituality, Fashion, and Resistance
Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA
2017 Her Word as Witness: Women Writers of the African Diaspora
Rosa Parks Museum, Troy University
2017 Baye Fall: Roots in Spirituality, Fashion, and Resistance
Canvas Institute of Art Culture & Civic Engagement, Staten Island, New York
2016 Home and Belonging: Gathering a Diaspora in Brooklyn
Weeksville Heritage Center Gallery
2015 Baye Fall: Roots in Spirituality, Fashion, and Resistance
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), Brooklyn, New York
2014 You May Sit Beside Me: Visual Narratives of Black Women and Queer Identities
The Skylight Gallery, Center for Arts and Culture, Brooklyn, New York
2012 Her Word as Witness: Women Writers of the African Diaspora
Bloomfield College Art Gallery, Bloomfield, New Jersey
2012 Her Word as Witness: Women Writers of the African Diaspora
Kimmel Galleries, New York University, New York, NY
2011 Her Word as Witness: Women Writers of the African Diaspora
The Skylight Gallery, Center for Arts and Culture, Brooklyn, New York
2009 Kindred Cool: Portraits Inspired by the Jazz Friendship of Romare Bearden, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray
The George & Leah McKenna Museum, New Orleans, LA
2008 Kindred Cool: Portraits Inspired by the Jazz Friendship of Romare Bearden,Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), Brooklyn, New York
2006 Black and Tan Fantasy
Calabar Imports, Brooklyn, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 Dos Mundos: (Re)Constructing Narratives Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
2020 Raupenimmersattism, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2020 #ICPConcerned: Global Images for Global Crisis, The International Center of Photography, NY, NY
2019 Beyond Geography: Contemporary Art and the Muslim Experience, BRIC House, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Nine Moments for Now, The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2018 Cit.i.zen.ship: Reflections on Rights, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
2018 The View from Here: Contemporary Perspectives from Senegal, Wright Museum of Art, Beloit College
2018 Ground Game, Okay Space Gallery, NYC
2018 Nuit de l’Année - Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
2018 In-Between, 2018 En Foco Photography Fellowship Exhibition, Andrew Freeman Museum, NYC
2018 Black Women: Power and Grace, Gregg Galleries, National Arts Club, NYC
2018 ReSignifications: The Black Mediterranean, Zisa Zona Arti Contemporanee
MANIFESTA European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Palermo, Italy
2018 The View from Here: Contemporary Perspectives from Senegal,
Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art OFF, Waru Studio, Dakar, Senegal
2017 Black Documents: Freedom, Andrew Freeman Museum, Bronx, New York
2016 Dandy Lion: (Re)Articulating Black Masculinity, Brighton Photo Biennial; Brighton, England
2016 Xool Rek, Galarie Ethiopiques, Saint-Louis, Senegal, West Africa
2016 Provocateurs: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Photographers & Writers
Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, New York
2016 BRONX:AFRICA, Longwood Arts Gallery @ Hostos, Bronx, New York
2015 Power, Protest, and Resistance: The Art of Revolution
The Skylight Gallery, Center for Arts and Culture, Brooklyn, New York
2015 Dandy Lion: (Re)Articulating Black Masculinity
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
2015 ReSignifications: European Blackamoors, Africana ReStagings, Galleria Biagiotti, Italy
2013 Joining Forces: Living Art on the Hill, The City College of New York, New York, NY
2013 Baye Fall à Touba, Curate NYC (Online)
2012 Harlem: Spirit of Community, The Dywer Cultural Center, New York, NY
2012 Dandy Lion: Articulating a Re(de)fined Black Masculine Identity
Open Ateliers Zuidoost Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2011 Dandy Lion: Articulating a Re(de)fined Black Masculine Identity
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD
2011 Dandy Lion: Articulating a Re(de)fined Black Masculine Identity
Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, New Jersey
2010 Dandy Lion: Articulating a Re(de)fined Black Masculine Identity
The National Black Theater, New York, NY
2008 Positivity, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2007 The Art of T&A....Truth and Activism, Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2007 The Art of T&A....Truth and Activism, Intermedia Arts Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2007 She Shootin' Gotham, Port Authority South Terminal, New York, NY
2007 A Drum Beats in Brooklyn: The Annex, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY
2007 A Drum Beats in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY
2006 She Shootin’…Aw, Made You Look!, The Gallery @ Harriet’s Alter Ego, Brooklyn, NY
2006 Shootout: Reverberating the Spirit and Legacy of Jack T. Franklin
The Philadelphia African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2006 3rd Wave: The Planet of Brooklyn Transitions, Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2006 Connections to the Diaspora, TAD Gallery, New York, NY
2006 Divas, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2006 A Tribute to Gordon Parks, Le Grand Dakar, Brooklyn, NY
2006 The Square Foot Show, Art Gotham Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Resurrections, Latin Collector Gallery, New York, NY
2005 MX80, Brecht Forum Gallery, New York, NY
2004 The Salon Show, PCOG Gallery, New York, NY
2004 Voices in Black Photography, Office of the Manhattan Borough President, New York, NY
CURATED EXHIBITIONS
2019 MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, US Embassy, Kigali, Rwanda
2019 Perspectives, Photoville NYC 2019, co-curated with Jamel Shabazz
2018 Aunty! African Women in the Frame, 1870 to the Present, United Photo Industries
2018 Altar, Photoville, NYC
2018 Where I Seek, I Find Myself, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, NYC
2010 LOVE: The Good, The Bad, The Abstract, The National Black Theater, New York City
2007 FORGIVE? Contemplating the Notion of Forgiveness Through Ideas, Moments and Faith
The Gallery at Harriet’s Alter Ego, Brooklyn, New York
2007 A Drum Beats in Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, New York
AWARDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS + RESIDENCIES
2019 OkayAfrica’s 100 Women Honoree
2019 Brooklyn Arts Fund Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council
2018 100 Heroines in Photography Medal, Royal Photographic Society
2018 En Foco Photography Fellowship
2018 Brooklyn Arts Fund Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council
2017 African Great Lakes Reporting Fellowship, International Women’s Media Foundation
2017 Reporting Grant for Women's Stories, International Women’s Media Foundation
2017 Brooklyn Arts Fund Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council
2016 Residency, Waaw Center for Art & Design, Saint-Louis, Senegal
2016 NYC Department of Cultural Affairs - Cultural Immigrant Initiative Grant
2015 BRIC Media Arts Fellowship
2015 Community Arts Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council
2013 Community Arts Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council
2011 Visual Arts Grant, Institute for Research in African American Studies of Columbia University/Towards An Intellectual History of Black Women
2011 Artist Summer Institute Fellowship, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
2011 Community Arts Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council
2007 Exhibition Award, Brooklyn Public Library
2006 Public Perspectives Curatorial Grant, Brooklyn Historical Society
2005 Atkins Fellowship, Jazz Journalists Association
2004 Yusef Iman Memorial Award for Media Activism
2000 STOCS Travel Grant, Research Foundation of CUNY
HONORS
2020 FujiFilm Creator + Brand Ambassador
2019 Invitee, National Geographic Storyteller’s Summit
2018 Finalist, Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University
2018 Invitee, National Geographic Photography Seminar
2018 Nominee, International Center of Photography, Infinity Award for Artist's Book
2018 Nominee, PDN’s 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch
2016 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, Cape Town, South Africa
2015 Shortlist, Lucie Foundation Emerging Photographer
2015 Alexia Foundation: Photography - Agent for Change Workshop
CATALOGS + ANTHOLOGIES + BOOKS
2018 The View From Here: Contemporary Perspectives from Senegal, by Joseph Underwood (Kent State)
2018 Brooklyn On My Mind: Black Visual Artists from the WPA to the Present, by Myrah Green (Shiffer)
2017 Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style, by Shantrelle P. Lewis (Aperture)
2017 ReSignifications: European Blackamoors, Africana Readings Edited by Awam Amkpa (Postcard)
2004 BLACK: A Celebration of a Culture, Edited by Dr. Deborah Willis (Hylas/Smithsonian)
SELECTED PRESS
2018 “How Photography Has Shaped Perceptions of African Women,” The New York Times
2018 “Laylah Amatullah Barrayn Celebrates Women Photographers of the African Diaspora,” Vice.com
2018 “MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora – In Pictures”, TheGuardian.com
2018 “These Black Women are Carving out a Place in History,” National Geographic
2017 “My Sister’s Keeper: A Q&A with Laylah Amatullah Barrayn,” RoadsandKingdoms.com
2017 “For the first time in 30 years, a book celebrates black women photographers,” QuartzAfrica.com
2017 “Celebrating the Work of Black Women Photographers,” New York Magazine - TheCut.com
2017 “This New Book Celebrates Women Photographers from the African Diaspora,” OkayAfrica.com
2017 “A New Book Gives Us the World as Seen by Black Female Photographers,” Vouge.com
2017 “The World According to Black Women Photographers,” The New York Times
2016 “Portrait of a Layered City: Saint-Louis of Senegal, “Washington Post
2015 “Ten Female Photographers to Know,” Washington Post
2015 “Roots in Fashion & Spirituality in Senegal’s Islamic Brotherhood, Baye Fall,” Washington Post
2014 “The Complexities of Queer Black Women,” BET.com
2012 “Photographer Celebrates Women Scribes with New Art Exhibit,’ Black Enterprise
2011 “Photo Exhibit with Artful Focus on Women Writers,” New York Daily News
2011 “Portraits of Many Writers on Display at Skylight Gallery,” The New York Times
2010 “Chester Higgins and Laylah Amatullah Barrayn in Conversation,”
Exposure: The Journal of the Society of Photographic Education
2008 “Jazz Society,” The Brooklyn Paper
2006 “The Travels of Laylah Amatullah Barrayn,” Caribbean Life Weekly
2006 “Lens Crafters Profile on Laylah Amatullah Barrayn,” Upscale Magazine
2006 “Prospect Park: Laylah Barrayn,” The Ave Magazine
LECTURES AND ARTIST TALKS
2020 Guest Speaker, We Are Present, Rochester Institute of Technology
2020 Guest Speaker, We Are Present, Yale University
2020 Guest Speaker, Wish You Were Here series, George Eastman Museum
2019 Guest Speaker, “The Politics of Representation,” World Press Photo, Amsterdam, Holland
2018 Invited Speaker, Voice of a Woman Festival, Museum of Modern Art
2018 Artist Talk, Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, WI
2018 Panelist, PDN PhotoPlus Expo: A New Gaze: Decolonizing American Photography
2018 Artist Talk, MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, Tate Modern, London, England
2018 Panelist, Black Portraiture(s) IV: The Color of Silence, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2017 Artist Talk, Dweck Center, Brooklyn Public Library
2017 Featured Speaker, Women of the World Festival, Apollo Theater, NYC
2017 Artist Lecture, State University of New York, New Paltz
2016 Artist Talk, Photoworks, University of Brighton, England
2015 BRIC Media House - Film Screening of “Sunu Fall”
2015 Africa Salon, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2015 BlackPortraiture{s} II: Imaging the Black Body and Re-Staging Histories, Florence, Italy
2014 The Film Forum/Through A Lens Darkly, New York, NY
2013 The Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture, New York, NY
2013 Yari Yari Ntosi Conference, Accra, Ghana
2012 International Center of Photography, New York, NY
2012 The Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD
2012 The Dwyer Cultural Center, New York, NY
2012 Howard University, Washington, DC
2012 New York University, New York, NY
SPECIAL PROJECTS
2021 Judge, Pictures of the Year International
2020 Judge, Alexa Foundation Grant
2019 Judge, The Fence, United Photo Industries
2018 Judge, Three Rivers Art Festival Exhibition, Pittsburg, PA
2018 Selection Committee, FotoEvidence W Award
2018 Judge, Getty Images + Array Grant
2018 Mentor, Documenting Detroit: Facing Change Photography Fellowship
2018 Mentor, WomenPhotograph Mentorship Program
2014 Organizer, Social Media Week, Lagos, Nigeria
2013 Organizer, Black Portraiture(s): The Black Body in the West Conference, Paris, France
2013 Organizer, Social Media Week, Lagos, Nigeria
2012 Organizer, Beats, Blocks, Brooklyn/Target First Saturday,
The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
The New York Times
2016 - Present, Freelance Photojournalist