Laylah Amatullah Barrayn

Laylah Amatullah Barrayn is a documentary photographer and writer. She is the co-author of the independently published MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, the first anthology in nearly 30 years that highlights photography produced by women of African descent. Barrayn is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. Her work has been included in books like Black: A Celebration of a Culture edited by Dr. Deborah Willis, Photography, A Feminist History by Emma Lewis and Streams of Consciousness: Bamako Encounters—African Biennale of Photography edited by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung. Barrayn’s personal and professional projects have taken her to Minneapolis to Malaysia to Martinique, among many global locales where she focuses her inquiries on Black diasporic communities with a special interest in religious traditions and the experiences of women. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with solo exhibitions at The Museum of the African Diaspora San Francisco and The Taubman Museum of Art (VA). In 2018, she was included as one of the Royal Photographic Society’s (UK) Hundred Heroines. Barrayn earned an MA in Arts Politics from New York University. She is currently working on a book on contemporary Black photographers.