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 MondeThe 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















 

Using Format