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Nzingah Oyo

@nzingahoyo

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Mom of 2 👸🏽👸🏽, Curator, Fine Art Photographer, Fulbright Scholar, Visual Arts Creator
🎓MFA - Tyler School of Art
🎓BFA - SUNY Purchase

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Big shout out to the Purchase Familia, who braved it through the storm. See you next year. 🎶🧡🤟🏼

#sunypurchase #reunion #linkup #Brooklyn

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🚨 One month from today…
Reunion. 30 years ago for some of us…
Same place as last year.
Enter on 9th street, walk past Bandshell (will be on your right) then cross the main loop.
Softball field on your right, We will be stationed on the left, close to that path.
If you’re walking from Grd Army Plaza, check map.
Lets Go!!! See Yall on 9/26.
⏰ 2:00-6:00pm

#reunion #sunypurchase #oldschool

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Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah has been a spiritual anchor in Bedford-Stuyvesant for more than half a century.

Acquired in the 1960s, the building was originally established as Muhammad Mosque No. 7C by members of the Nation of Islam, under Malcolm X’s leadership. It was one of numerous temples that Malcolm X and his then-NOI congregants helped build across New York.

By the 1970s, the mosque transitioned away from the Nation of Islam and toward mainstream Sunni Islam. It was also during this period that a man named Abdul Muhsi Khalifah became an active member. According to community oral histories, when a woman from the congregation was attacked a few blocks away one night, Abdul rushed to help her and was killed in the process. The mosque was renamed in his honor.

The building itself has a long history. Decades before it became a mosque, its ballroom, known today as Akbar Hall, hosted dances and performances. Duke Ellington and Andy Kirk played there in the 1920s and ‘30s, making the space a fixture of Brooklyn’s early jazz scene.

Today, Masjid Khalifah continues to serve as a vital center for prayer, education and community. As these photographs show, the life of the mosque has always been carried forward by the faith and presence of its community, including the many women who have helped sustain it across generations. #ramadanmubarak

1. Sister Nena Muhammad and Naimah Shakir outside Fareedah’s Restaurant near Masjid Abdul Muhsi Khalifah, 1980s. (John Van Hasselt, h/t @bedstuyforever)

2. Teachers and administrators of Mosque 7C’s school (Abdul Yasin Muhammad)

3. Malcolm X, 1963 (Leonard Freed)

4. Eid, 2018 (Laylah Amatullah Barrayn @laylahb)

5. Elders and youth in discussion, 2019 (Taeesha Muhammad @sophisticatedcookie)

6. Portrait from @brooklynhistory’s “Muslims in Brooklyn” exhibit, 2019 (Joey O’Loughlin)

7. Eid, 2015 (Eurila Cave @caliyorkphotography)

8 - 9. Eid, 2021 (Taeesha Muhammad)

10-14. Portraits from “Woven Prayers” series, 2025 (Nzingah Oyo @nzingahoyo)

15. Photo: Himy Syed

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‘Tis the season! Warm your heart & soul at the photo shows & events in our DECEMBER BEST PHOTO PICKS for Boston & New England. Link to our listings in bio @whatwillyouremember or @suzannerevystudio or cut&paste url in comments. (Photo by @suzannerevystudio )

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| UPCOMING EXHIBITION | 2025 Arnold Newman Finalist: Nzingah Oyo – “Of 30 Siblings” (@nzingahoyo | @mainemedia)

Finalist Nzingah Oyo’s work depicts layered narratives that examine and celebrate culture, politics, and global social dynamics.

Growing up in a large polygamous Muslim family in Brooklyn, Islamic and African traditions blended with the city’s energy, shaping the practices carried forward.

Her project, “Of 30 Siblings” celebrates the Oyo family through formal portraits shot with a 4×5 view camera over 25 years. The series explores the intersection of African and Islamic heritage with urban Brooklyn life.

Congratulations from the Griffin Museum Team!

ON VIEW: December 5 – January 4, 2026
RECEPTION: December 11, 5 to 7pm

A huge thank you to this year’s jurors:
Caleb Cain Marcus @calebcainmarcus
Camille Farrah Lenain @camille.lenain
Karen Haas @nerak214214

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Yesterday was World Photography Day and the Black Photographer Collective hosted their 2nd annual gathering on the steps of the Brooklyn Museum! It was epic and awesome, filled with an atmosphere of great people and positive vibrations! Thanks go out to @worldphotographydaynyc @verycoolcash @kaleidoscopelady1 @carlbroadyphoto @jamelshabazz and the rest of the @blackphotocollective2020 #worldphotography #worldphotographyday #blackphotography #blackphotographer #blackphoto #africanamericanphotographer #caribbeanphotographer #africanphotography #peopleofcolor #peopleofcolorphotography

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“A Woven Prayer (sajjādat) #3” is @nzingahoyo’s third iteration of her practice of selecting, assembling, and sewing individual prayer rugs from her personal collection to create one larger prayer rug. Whereas prior prayer rug tapestries served as backdrops in Oyo’s photographs, here Oyo moves to physically center the work in a space of installation at Express Newark, inviting the viewer to an intimate and surreal encounter of ritual and connection.

In reflecting on the significance of prayer rugs and the work, Oyo noted, “It represents a place and space for peace not only within one’s home but within themselves… I wanted to share this experience that many feel when entering the Masjid––a sense of peace and calm.”

Nzingah Oyo “Woven Prayers” series is on view through July 31.

Photos by @vanessablake and Sara Stadtmiller

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A few flicks from Eid…🌙🕋

This one snuck up on me (literally) - but Alhamdulilah for the opportunity to experience it. 🤲🏾

👗: @asos

Pics 1-3 📸: @nzingahoyo “Woven Threads” portraits session , got caught laughing 😂

4 & 5: 📸: unknown - Eid celebration with my sisters and the yout dem Mashaallah 🫶🏾

#eid2025 #eidmubarak #eiduladha #ootd #hijab #hijabfashion #hijabstyle #modestfashıon #sisterhood #loveislove

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a lil Eid Dump… Belated #EidMubarak 🤲🏾🎈🖤

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#Brooklyn
Via @nzingahoyo
A belated Eid gift for you all🥰.

Eid Mubarak! A big thank you to everyone who participated in the Woven Prayers Portrait session at Abdul Mushi Khalifah. Despite a long day and having to swap out my Eid outfit, I truly enjoyed capturing the essence of one of the founding Black Muslim communities—photographing familiar faces, from childhood to long-time members, made the experience even more special. The stories, laughter, and vibrant energy of the Ummah were simply MashaAllah. Wishing you all a peaceful and successful Eid, and thank you for the warm greetings and duas. 🤲🏽🤍🕋😊Amine!!!

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#BAM #BAMBAR #BAM411 #Black #American #Muslim #bornandraised #Muslimconverts #MuslimReverts #America #Community #Deen #BlackMuslims #BlackandMuslim #Beingblackandmuslim #Quran #Sunnah #Events #SupportBlack #bornandraised

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Just submitted these images to The Somerville Toy Camera Festival.
@somerville_toy_camera_fest

Submit your images shot with a Toy Camera! Deadline: June 15

1 Title: Steam and Birds
Camera: 35mm transparency film shot in a modified 120mm Holga
Film: Kodak Ektachrome100
Year: 2023

2 Title: Walk This Way
Camera: 35mm transparency film shot in a modified 120mm Holga
Film: Kodak Ektachrome100
Year: 2023

3 Title: The Professor at Coney Island
Camera: 120mm Holga
Film: Fuji Pro 400 H
Year: 2024

4 Title: Ha Long Bay Vietnam
Camera: Diana Mini / in-camera multiple exposure
Film: Fuji Superia 400
Year: 2025

5 Title: May Day Protest Against Trump and Musk
Camera: Diana Mini / the back fell off the camera mid roll
Film: Fuji Superia 400
Year: 2025

What’s a toy camera? According to the organizers:

Toys have come a long way since we started this Festival in 2013, but our north stars remain the plastic toy cameras that started it all back in the 1960s-70s. For our exhibitions, we welcome photos made with any camera that:

shoots film, or exposes images directly onto to photosensitive paper

has a plastic lens (or no lens — hello pinhole)

offers very minimal (or no) exposure control

#halongbay #film #shootitonfilm #analogforever #coneyisland #mayday

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I am definitely one of those who describes #EidalAdha as the ‘not-as-fun’ Eid 🫢 So when @angrybrowngrl introduced me to @salamishah and her team to view ‘Ritual’ at @expressnewark - I brought some of my Muslim friends who I knew would appreciate the 🖼️ and timed the trip to #Newark to coincide with #BaqraEid to liven things up this year🪬
🧿
The curation of ‘Ritual’ is spectacular🤌🏽; I had to continually lift my jaw off the ground. I loved how the whole exhibit centered Muslim interiorities and ritual practice.

It felt like a case of the intersecting Venn diagrams. The exhibit literally creates a space for complexities to exist in harmony. For example, if my *mom* were in town visiting me RN, this is the #artexhibit on #MuslimArt that I would take her to. She would be able to connect, enjoy and learn a lot and I think we would be in somatic ease with each other. It’s a perfect Eid family art 🖼️ outing. Bring the aunties and uncles🧚🏾‍♂️
🧿
Floor 1 centers Newark’s local #BlackMuslim community and its rich lineage and histories via ‘Woven Prayers’ by @nzingahoyo — the portraits are vivid and breathtaking IRL.
🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔
Floor 2 holds ‘Powers of the Unseen’ - which felt very Sufi, very mystic 🪬There is a meditation and sound bath room, art on #Islamiccosmology , sacred rugs, video installation and so much more. We snagged a group photo in @shine_portraitstudio - a community photography studio that provides equipment and space and is free to use for local-creatives upon booking!
🧿
We left buzzing, feeling activated and inspired. Wallahi, Ritual is a must-see 👁️ It’s centrally located and accessible via public transit from NYC. Lemme know if you go 😘

#EidMubarak fam 🧞‍♀️🫶🏽🌙🧿

P.S.
Madeeha Mubarak is a Muslim house singer 🎤 who incorporates devotional music (read: Sufi #dhikr )for #somatichealing in intentional, ceremonial spaces, like the dance floor. Thanks for putting me onto her @ilhaminspired - it feels very aligned with our visit 🤲🏽📿💃🏽 🎼🎶

(‘View Fullscreen’ so art is not cut off)

#pyaarart

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