Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe

Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe is an American photographer, born in 1951, who is known for her photojournalism activist photography. Her work has a wide variety to it as some work she draws on her own life experiences, some she explores family dealing with tragedy and some she takes a look at the historical consequences of slavery.  Moutoussamy-Ashe does not have the most linear path of education as she started going to weekend classes at the Art Institute of Chicago when she was as young at 8 years old. At first, she was rejected from the Cooper Union School of Art, however after receiving mentorship from Garry Winogrand, she went on to receive her B.F.A from Cooper Union in 1975.

Once Moutoussamy-Ashe had graduated, she was working as a graphic artist and working in television photojournalism for WNBC, WNEW and PM magazine. She went on to work with many magazines and newspapers, such as Life, Smithosian, Sports Illustrated and Black Enterprise. Moutoussamy-Ashe is featured in many permanent collections of many museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Additionally, she is currently showcasing her show Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and the Last Gullah Islands at the Whitney Museum of American Art until May 2025.