Brooklyn-based photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn has published an anthology of work featuring over 100 female photographers of the “African diaspora” – the first of its kind in thirty years.
Over thirty years ago, American photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe documented the contributions of black female photographers in the US. She chased down photographers the likes of Jennie Van Der Zee Welcome – the first black photographer in the Women’s Army Corp in WWII – to collate Viewfinders: Black Women Photographers. Viewfinders was originally published in 1986 and updated in 1993.
Barrayn, much like her predecessor, has collated works from over one hundred black female photographers, spanning from the US to the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. Barrayn chased down a number of photographers that she had long-admired, attending exhibitions in Cairo, Adis Ababa, Cape Town and Dakar. Speaking with Quartz, Barrayn stressed her desire to curate a statement project on an international scale,
Black women photographers are grossly underrepresented across the board, unfortunately. I’m doing my small part to add to this conversation by creating this document. But it is the gatekeepers, the editors, and curators, who really need to do examine their processes of inclusion.
Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora was predominantly funded by a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council in conjunction with a crowdfunding campaign. The title of the anthology is a dedication to a young Nigerian-American photographer, Mmekutmfon ‘Mfon’ Essien, who tragically passed away in 2001 following a battle with breast cancer.
Ever the philanthropist, Barrayn and her partners have pledged to offer a grant to a woman photographer of African descent later in the year. Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora kicks off an annual publication, in which Barrayn hopes will inspire aspiring photographers by documenting “the work, effort, and sacrifice these women have made to become storytellers and photographers.”
FIB’s mission encompasses a similar message as Barrayn,
I think it’s important to create a record. I would hate for another 30 plus years to go by and virtually nothing about the work that women photographers of African descent goes documented.
Whilst we already embrace a diverse team we must, as purveyors and documenters of everything that falls under the realm of ‘culture’, strive to perpetuate this conversation. It is honestly (and exasperatingly) mind-boggling that people of colour don’t receive the same exposure as their caucasian colleagues and counterparts. Alas, the media have a crucial role to play in this conversation, and we at FIB are up to the task.
Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora is available now! If you would like to purchase this book and/or donate to the crowdfunding campaign, head here.