Mmekutmfon Essien
Mmekutmfon "Mfon" Essien (1967 – February 14, 2001) was a Nigerian-American photographer. Mmekutmfon Essien was born in 1967 in Ikot Ekpene, 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.
Also recorded as Mfon Essien · Mmekutmfon Mfon Essien · MFON
Mmekutmfon Essien
- Born
- 1967. · Ikot Ekpene.
- Died
- 2001. · New York City.
- Nationality
- Nigeria and United States.
- Occupation
- photographer.
- Education
- Morgan State University.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Mmekutmfon "Mfon" Essien (1967 – February 14, 2001) was a Nigerian-American photographer. Mmekutmfon Essien was born in 1967 in Ikot Ekpene, 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.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Mmekutmfon Essien. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q108327506 · wikipedia · Mmekutmfon Essien
In this article
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1967
Mmekutmfon Essien was born on 1 January 1967.
2001
Mmekutmfon Essien died on 14 February 2001.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Baltimore and New York City.
Residences
Ikot Ekpene.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Legacy
She graduated with a BA from Morgan State University. In the early 1990s, Essien moved to New York City to work as a fashion photographer for outlets including Vibe and People. She had her art gallery debut at Rush Arts in Chelsea in 1996. Essien was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 1998 and had a radical mastectomy. In response, she created a series of nude self-portraits called The Amazon's New Clothes. Essien died on 14 February 2001 in New York City.
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.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q108327506: Mmekutmfon Essien
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Mmekutmfon Essien”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Mfon Essien – Photographer, 34. The New York Times. 2001-02-23. 0362-4331.
- 2.Lebart, Luce. A world history of women photographers. Thames & Hudson Ltd Thames & Hudson Inc. 2022. 978-0-500-02541-3.
- 3.Dazed. How Black women are making their mark on photography. 2017-11-15.
- 4.Rogers, Fiona. MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora. Firecracker. 2018-01-01.
- 5.MFON Celebrates the Work of Black Women Photographers. Photography. 2025-03-18.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Miyuki MatsudaPhotographer
- Mladen StilinovićPhotographer
- Mladen VelimirovićPhotographer
- MLHLNDPhotographer
- Mohamed AminPhotographer
- Mohamed BourouissaPhotographer
- Mohamed Zineddaine ZoulfakkarPhotographer
- Mohammad MuradPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Mmekutmfon Essien?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.