Mmekutmfon "Mfon" Essien (1967 – February 14, 2001) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

-American photographer. Mmekutmfon Essien was born in 1967 in

Ikot Ekpene Ikot Ekpene, also known as The Raffia City, is a historic town in the south-southern state of Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. It is the political and cultural capital of the Annang ethnic group in Nigeria (Nair, 1972). The town is located on the A34 ...

, Nigeria, the daughter of Adiaha Essien''.'' Her family emigrated to the United States when she was two years old and she was raised in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. She graduated with a BA from

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

. In the early 1990s, Essien moved to New York City to work as a fashion photographer for outlets including ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' and ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''. She had her art gallery debut at Rush Arts in Chelsea in 1996. Essien was diagnosed with terminal

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

in 1998 and had a

radical mastectomy Radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure that treats breast cancer by removing the breast and its underlying chest muscle (including pectoralis major and pectoralis minor), and lymph nodes of the axilla (armpit). Breast cancer is the most commo ...

. In response, she created a series of nude self-portraits called ''The Amazon's New Clothes.'' This work was featured at the 2000

Dakar Biennale The Dakar Biennale, or Dak'Art - Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain, is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Dakar, Senegal. Dak'Art's focus has been on Contemporary African Art since 1996. History ...

and two of the photos were part of the exhibit ''Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers'', which opened the day after her death at the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

. Essien died on 14 February 2001 in New York City.

Legacy

In 2018, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and Adama Delphine Fawundu launched the biannual journal ''Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora,'' which was named in honor of Essien.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essien, Mmekutmfon Mfon Created via preloaddraft 1967 births 2001 deaths Nigerian women photographers American women photographers American artists of Nigerian descent Fashion photographers