Biography
Lafotographeuse (née Amanda Adams-Louis) is a photo based artist, media art educator, street dance scholar and cultural producer working in Brooklyn, NY. Born in the United States, her body of work is informed by her living in Europe, Africa, North and South America.
Lafotographeuse uses both conceptual and documentary art-making approaches to create photographs, graphic design pieces and installations that chronicle and situate black joy, pleasure as vehicles of resistance manifested through vernacular culture.
In 2000, Lafotographeuse began making images to document and process her life as a Black American, teenager studying, living and travelling between one of the world’s richest countries (Switzerland) and least developed nations (Guinea.)
Lafotographeuse has exhibited her imagery in New York City, Philadelphia, Newark, Baltimore, Paris and Amsterdam. Past exhibition venues include: Union Theological Seminary, The Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture Corridor Gallery, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, Aljira A Center for Contemporary Art, Open Ateliers Zo and Deep Side Center. Her photographs have appeared on the pages of ARTnews, The Huffington Post, Time Out NY, Canada Arts Connect and Dance Delight. Lafotographeuse has received photography commissions from Alvin Ailey, The Brooklyn Museum, Pepsi, Levi’s, Budweiser, YRB Magazine and Urban World Film Festival.
Lafotographeuse holds a BFA from Pratt Institute (Photography, Art History & Graphic Design) and is currently an MA candidate at NYU’s Gallatin School for Individualized Study, concentrating in Performance Studies, Hip-Hop Culture and Arts Administration. From 2011-2012, she was a studio art participant in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program.
