Here’s a dope new visual arts project that’s out for crowdfunding. Three artists and producers have set out to honor the legacy of a late contemporary who inspired them by putting together a “commemorative book launching a bi-annual journal committed to establishing and representing a collective voice of women photographers of African descent.” The GoFundMe campaign notes:
…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.”
Further:
The inaugural issue of Mfon will feature 100 women photographers across the Diaspora. This iconic issue will feature 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 will include conversations and 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 work.
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.
Thanks to both project co-founder Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and Sharon Pendana, founder of The Trove, for the heads up on this fantastic project.
Please note that this GoFundMe effort is a pre-sale campaign. CLICK HERE to support the campaign through a minimum donation of $25.
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