Cover of WE ARE PRESENT: 2020 IN PORTRAITS
2021 APP Alum, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn was in conversations with Dr. Deborah Willis to discuss her new book, “We Are Present: 2020 in Portraits" at the Magnum Foundation.
This in-person panel and book signing celebrated “We Are Present: 2020 in Portraits,” the debut monograph by Magnum Foundation grantee Laylah Amatullah Barrayn. Taking viewers through one of the most dynamic years in recent history, “We Are Present” is a year-long visual account of love, grief, vulnerability, creativity, isolation, communion, determination and faith.
The event featured Barrayn in conversation with Dr. Deborah Willis, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Books are available for purchase on site below:
https://www.magnumfoundation.org/news/we-are-present-available-for-preorder
“We Are Present: 2020 in Portraits” is a year-long visual account of love, grief, vulnerability, creativity, isolation, communion, determination and faith braided within its narrative. Taking us through one of the most dynamic years in recent history, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn has assembled a series of tender yet confrontational portraits from her assignment work as a photojournalist and off-duty encounters. Photographed on location in New York, Minneapolis and Louisville, the images are linked chronologically, beginning in the unassuming winter months, transitioning into the devastating onset of a global pandemic in the spring, pivoting into a summer of spirited Black Lives Matter demonstrations, before meandering into a volatile fall election season.”