Loop 21- New Photo Exhibit Captures Women Writers of Color

When photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn made a choice to photograph 36 contemporary writers for her current exhibition “Her Words Her Word as Witness: Portraits of Women Writers of the African Diaspora” she also, in effect, was turning the camera on herself. As a writer and photographer she understands what it means to bear witness and the vulnerability that comes with both jobs. Photographic portraiture is a medium that can be loaded with double entendre. The notion of exposure, to be revealed, to be seen, captured in what photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson referred to as the “decisive moment” is a cyclical exchange between the photographer and the subject. The intimacy of portrait photography heightens the intensity of exchange between photographer and subject and the gaze if constantly shifting. The prints reveal the skill of the photographer and her ability to capture the essence of her subject. Click here to read more from Loop 21!