Welcome Fall Magnum Foundation Fellow Laila Annmarie Stevens
Laila Annmarie Stevens, Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman (29), a Black Lesbian American, conceptual, multidisciplinary, intersectional feminist and self-taught artist at home with her momma.
Magnum Foundation is pleased to announce Laila Annmarie Stevens as our newest Magnum Foundation Fellow. Throughout the Fall of 2023, Laila will split her time between supporting Magnum Foundation’s programming and pursuing her photo series, Clayton Sisterhood Project, in which she explores the continuing legacy built by her sisters and nieces originally from New York, NY moving onto Clayton, North Carolina land together. Inspired by the historical branches of trees on southern terrain and longing for ancestral remembrance through the traditional family album, they utilize the 1960s Black Power Movement principle of Self-Determination to preserve and document intergenerational Black Women figures across both state territories. Concentrating on intimate moments, the protagonists within this project allow us to enter the stories of their lives and their relationships to their families.
Laila Annmarie Stevens (b. 2001) is a Black Queer Photographer and Visual Artist born and raised in South Jamaica Queens, NY based in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA in Photography and Related Media at The Fashion Institute of Technology. Their portraiture is informed by their passion for honoring marginalized youth voices and embracing the fullness of Black life through the creation of a digital safe space. Their work could be described as a raw and intimate perspective. Through her early work in youth organizations, she’s incorporated image-making to envision a world of inclusion and power.
Laila shared, “This fellowship program will provide me with the time and mentorship needed to further strengthen a personal project that is important to my family, and me. I'm looking forward to pushing my creative capabilities with the support of the Magnum Foundation community. Reflecting on identity, queerness, and family histories, I hope the photographs in the project answer the many questions I've asked myself growing up. Who am I? Where, and who do I come from? Where can I call home? Who does my family include? What does love feel like?”
The Magnum Foundation Fellowship offers mentorship and stipends to early-career practitioners who are at a critical moment in their development as photographers. This fellowship is designed for New York City-based photographers to work in the Magnum Foundation office while also developing their own photographic project in the city that demonstrates a commitment to social issues and community based work. Learn more here.
The Magnum Foundation Fellowship is made possible with the support of the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation and the Select Equity Group Foundation.
Laila Annmarie Stevens, Aunt Janice (74) gathers with the family's younger generations in the driveway of her childhood home in South Jamaica, Queens, New York.
Laila Annmarie Stevens, Swamp trees brush against a local river in Clayton, North Carolina.