Fellowship

En Foco Fellowship Winners

En Foco is proud to announce the ten winners of its 2024 Photography Fellowship Program who were selected from a pool of nearly 100 applicants. Each person will receive a $1,500 award.

Designed to support photographers of color who demonstrate the highest quality of work as determined by a photography panel of peers and industry professionals, this year’s awardees include Cali M. Banks, Jordana Bermúdez Torres, Avijit Halder, Oji Haynes, Andrew Kung, Shina Peng, Sharon Miller, Lieh Sugai, Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, and Chen Xiangyun.

The Fellowship initiative affirms En Foco’s ongoing commitment to the financial support of artists of color, and serves to inform exhibition organizers and curators of an existing pool of quality under recognized artists.

Cali M. Banks, a Munsee Lenape/Scottish lens-based artist in Syracuse, NY, holds an MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder. Serving as the Communications Coordinator for Light Work and Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University, Banks has exhibited work during Art Basel Miami and other notable venues, including an upcoming solo exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art.

calimariebanks.com

Jordana Bermúdez Torres,  a documentary photographer in NYC, focuses on identity, specifically as it relates to gender, youth, and immigration. A graduate of ICP’s Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program, she amplifies the voices of women and the queer community. Bermúdez Torres is a recipient of the Director’s Fellowship.

jordanabtp.com

Avijit Halder, an Indian-born American visual artist in NYC, uses various mediums to express their past and present identity. Featured in “Born into Brothels” as a child, Halder holds an MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies from ICP-Bard College and a BFA in Film & Television from NYU. Their work has been exhibited at Higher Pictures, MoMA ps1, and Baxter street. Halder is a recipient of the Creators Labs Photo Fund 2023.

avijithalder.studio

Andrew Kung, a Brooklyn-based photographer, gained recognition for “Mississippi Delta Chinese” and “The All-American.” Awarded by PhotoVogue, LensCulture, and Photolucida, Kung’s ongoing project, “Dreaming on the Hudson,” is the focus of his 2024 Light Work artist residency.

apkung.com

Oji Haynes, a serious and sensitive artist in NYC, is a CCNY Dean’s Prize recipient and was awarded the 2022 NADA Miracle Seltzer Grant. Participating in the New York Times Portfolio Review, Haynes’ work has been featured in various publications, including Office Magazine and Boooooom.

ojihaynes.com

Shina Peng, an environmental portrait photographer in Brooklyn and Tokyo, explores the dichotomies of international identity. Born in Japan to Taiwanese American parents, Peng’s work celebrates the mundanity of everyday life, questioning society’s understanding of belonging.

shinapeng.com

Sharon Miller, an award-winning hip hop artist and visual artist in Queens, uses her diverse skills for social change. Founder of The Creative Youth Society, Miller’s work has been featured in Photoville NY and Click Magazine, with a permanent installation in Queens.

honeydarkstudios.com

Lieh Sugai, a Japanese-born New York artist, uses photography and video to explore memories shaped by time, events, and culture. Studying graphic design in New York, Sugai’s work has been exhibited internationally and published in The Washington Post and Fisheye Magazine.

liehsugai.com

Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, a Mexican-American artist from Chicago, now in Brooklyn, NY, holds a BFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2020) and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin (2023). Her vibrant work explores immigrant family experiences, labor, trauma, and the American Dream. Notable awards include the Aperture 2023 Creator Labs Photo Fund. Villanueva is a Whitney ISP Studio Program Fellow starting Fall 2023 at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

jennifertvillanueva.com

Chen Xiangyun, a queer artist from China in Queens, NY, utilizes photography, moving image, and bookmaking to map emotional complexity. Chen has received the Robert Giard Grant, NYFA Immigrant Artist Program, and was a finalist for PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant and Critical Mass 2022. Their work has been shown globally.

chenxiangyun.com

In addition to a fellowship grant of $1,500, each Fellow will be provided with professional development and networking opportunities. Their work will also be featured in a June/July 2024 group exhibition at the WallWorks gallery in the Bronx. Printed and online editions of Nueva Luz, En Foco’s signature photographic journal, also planned for publication in June 2024.

En Foco is a non-profit organization that nurtures and supports contemporary fine art and documentary photographers of diverse cultures, primarily U.S. residents of Latino, African and Asian Heritage, and Native Peoples of the Americas and the Pacific.  Since it was founded in 1974, En Foco has been an outspoken leader and advocate for the equitable support and access to resources for photographers of color.  It has a distinguished itself through its sustained commitment to providing its primary constituency and the communities they represent financial support, public programming, information services and cultural advocacy initiatives.