Edited by Laylah Amatullah Barrayn & Adama Delphine Fawundu
MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora is an exclusive and commemorative publication committed to establishing and representing a collective voice of women photographers of African descent. The inaugural issue of MFON features over 100 women photographers across the Diaspora. This iconic issue includes an introduction by Dr. Deborah Willis, MacArthur Fellow and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. It also features essays written by women scholars, journalists and artists. Subsequent issues of MFON will feature photographic essays of four or five photographers with in depth interviews and essays that will contextualize the works.
MFON is founded by award winning documentary photographer, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and critically acclaimed, award winning visual artist, Adama Delphine Fawundu with the goal of creating awareness of the impact that women photographers of African descent have in the world. They are joined by Emmy award winning producer and MFON‘s deputy editor, Crystal Whaley.
In keeping with the idea of “my sister’s keeper,” the journal is named in memory of Mmekutmfon ‘Mfon’ Essien (1967 – 2001) a sharp- witted, visionary photographer who exhibited at the Senegalese Biennale in Dakar, Senegal and received an honorable mention in the American Photo magazine annual survey of the nation’s best photographers. She passed away from breast cancer the day before her series “The Amazon’s New Clothes” was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art as part of the critically acclaimed exhibition “Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers.”
Available in the following library collections:
Pratt Institute Libraries, Brooklyn, NY
International Center of Photography, New York
New York Public Library System
Columbia University in the City of New York
Amherst College Library
Bennington College, Bennington, VT
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Tufts University -Tibrary, Medford, MA
University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, MD
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
University of Vermont Howe Library, Burlington, VT
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, Green Bay, WI
Portland State University, Portland, OR
The Claremont Colleges, Claremont CA
Washington State University, Vancouver, WA
National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London