Heather Akosua Agyepong is a British-Ghanaian photographer, visual artist, performer and actor, living in London.

Life and education

Agyepong was born and raised in the

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...

area of London and is of

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

heritage. Her mother moved to England from Ghana in her teenage years. She earned a National Diploma in Performing Arts from

City of Westminster College City of Westminster College is a further education college in the City of Westminster, Greater London, England, founded originally as Paddington Technical Institute in 1904 and gaining its current name in 1990. The college has two centres in cent ...

; a BSc in Applied Psychology from the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

; and an MA in Photography & Urban Cultures from

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

. On March 25, 2023, Agyepong was asked to leave the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City after a disagreement with another museum attendee at an exhibition called ''Black Power Naps''. The museum subsequently issued a public apology, saying it will increase efforts to "protect the experiences of Black visitors and visitors from Indigenous communities and communities of colour."

Career

Agyepong is a multidisciplinary artist, who has worked in photography, visual art, theater, film, and television.

Photography

Agyepong's photography work has focused on mental health, activism and the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

. It has been shown at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

museum and the Centre for British Photoraphy, and is part of the collections at the Mead Art Museum, the Autograph ABP, the Hyman Collection, the

Centre National des Arts Plastiques The Centre national des arts plastiques (National Centre for Visual Arts, or CNAP) is a French institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Culture and Communication that promotes creation of visual arts. It provides assistance to artists ...

, and the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest art museum, fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. It is situated within City Park (New Orleans), City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton ...

. In 2024,

Nikon (, ; ) is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to S ...

released a short film titled ''The Mind in Focus'', in which Agyepong describes how photography connects with her mental health. For her photography, she has been awarded the Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award and the Photographers Gallery New Talent Award.

Visual arts

''Wish You Were Here'' was a work commissioned by the Hyman Collection. In it, Agyepong channels the American vaudeville performer

Aida Overton Walker Aida Overton Walker (February 14, 1880 – October 11, 1914), also billed as Ada Overton Walker and as "The Queen of the Cakewalk", was an American vaudeville performer, actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, and wife of vaudevillian George ...

, by posing for a series of fake postcards. The work addresses physical and mental wellbeing. Another of Agyepong's works is ''The Body Remembers,'' a solo performance that "explores how trauma lives in the body, particularly for Black British women across different generations."

Theater

Agyepong has performed in several plays. She received recognition for her 2024 performance in ''Shifters'', written by Benedict Lombe and directed by Lynette Linton. For that performance, she was nominated for "Best Actress" at the 2025

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

. In a review in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Alice Saville gave the play four out of five stars, saying, "Agyepong gives glimpses of vulnerability before building her walls up again, higher than before." In her acting, Agyepong cites

Viola Davis Viola Davis ( ; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis, Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. ''Time (magazine), Time'' named her one of ...

and

Michaela Coel Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British actress, writer and television director. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 television sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), ...

as major influences.

Television

In 2023, Agyepong starred in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

series ''The Power'', based on the science fiction book by

Naomi Alderman Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist, Game design, game writer, and television executive producer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel ''The Power (Alderman novel), The Power'', which won the Women's Prize f ...

. As of 2025, she is part of the forthcoming Netflix project called ''Joy'', which follows the story of the first baby conceived through

in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from ...

Group photography exhibitions

*''Starting Something New: Recent Contemporary Art Acquisitions and Gifts'', Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, 2019–2021 *''Wish You Were Here'', Format Festival, Derby, 2021

Awards

* Jerwood Foundation New Work Fund award for ''The Body Remembers'' *2018: Nominated, South Bank Sky Arts Breakthrough Award *2021: Co-winner, with Joanne Coates, Jerwood/Photoworks Awards – a £15,000 award. *2025: Best Actress nomination for Shifters,

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Collections

Agyepong's work is held in the following permanent collection: * Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts

References

External links

* Living people 21st-century British photographers 21st-century English people 21st-century British women photographers Actors from the London Borough of Merton Actresses from London Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the University of Kent Artists from London Black British actresses Black British photographers British contemporary artists English people of Ghanaian descent English women photographers People from Mitcham Photographers from London Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-actor-stub