Currently in New York
Based between New Orleans/New York
Camille Farrah Lenain (b. 1990) is a French‑Algerian photographer and educator based between New Orleans and New York. Exploring identity, memory, and belonging, her work challenges social preconception by centering communities and experiences that resist simplistic narratives. Her practice combines immersive research, portraiture, and sound, creating work that amplifies voices often overlooked or misunderstood.
She studied photography at l’ESA in Brussels and the International Center of Photography in New York. Her photographs have been exhibited at institutions and festivals worldwide including the Arab World Institute, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Photoville. In 2024, she was recognized with the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, the U.S. Leica Women Foto Prize, and the Aperture Creators Lab. She teaches photography at Tulane University and has held residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center and the Center of Photography at Woodstock.
She is publishing her first monograph “Made Of Smokeless Fire” with Loose Joints in Summer 2026
Preorder at this link.
Interviews / Press
2025 Young Photographers 2025, Cultured Mag (EN)
2025 An Optimist Quest in Apolyptic Time, The Bitter Southerner (EN)
2025 Portfolio : Coeurs Tiraillés, Gaze Magazine N.10 (FR)
2025 Dans l’oeil des photographes féministes, La Déferlante N.17 (FR)
2024 Sisters Of The Hunt at NUNU’s Art Collective Review, Burnaway (EN)
2024 Made Of Smokeless Fire, L'ode de Camille Farrah Lenain à la vie musulmane queer, Mat3amclub (EN + FR)
2024 A Lens on Women in the Field, Garden and Gun (EN)
2022 Camille Farrah Lenain’s portrait of LGBTQ+ people of Muslim culture, DAZED (EN)
2022 Les femmes sont rarement représentées en lien avec la mort, Les Jours (FR)
2022 7 queer French Muslims reflect on their identity and upbringing, VICE i-D (EN)
2022 Made Of Smokeless Fire, Cicada Radio (EN)
2022 Queerness Habibi in the Arab World, Appolo Magazine (EN)
2022 La photographie empathique, Brainto (FR)
2022 In The Studio, Joan Mitchell Center (EN)
2022. The Waiting, Booooooom (EN)
Selected Group Exhibits
2026 breath of song, with Kennedi Carter, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans
2025 History Or Premonition, Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans
2025 Refreshing America, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans
2025 LWFP Winners, Leica Gallery Boston, Boston
2025 As Wind, Within Trees, with Brandon Holland The Fourth Wall, New Orleans
2024 ANP Winner, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester
2024 La Nuit de l’Année, Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
2024 Photoville, New York City
2023 PHOTODOC, Paris, France
2022 Floodbox, The Cicada Screenings, The Front, New Orleans
2022 Habibi : Les Révolutions de l’Amour, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2022 The Waiting, Festival les Boutographies, Montpellier, France
2021 The Waiting, CURRENTS, PhotoNOLA Festival, Ogden Museum of Southern Art
Selected Awards / Residencies
2024 Michael P. Smith Award, Winner, New Orleans Photo Alliance
2024 Arnold Newman Prize for New Direction in Photographic Portraiture, Winner, Maine Media
2024 Creators Lab Photo Fund, Winner, Aperture x Google
2024 Leica Women Foto Award, USA Winner, Leica x Photoville
2024 CPW, Center of Photography at Woodstock, NY
2023 Women Photograph Grant, Winner, Women Photograph
2023 Cortona On The Move Award, Finalist, COTM
2023 NY Portfolio Review, Selected Participant, New York Times x Photoville
2023 Aperture Portfolio Prize, Finalist, Aperture
2021 Joan Mitchell Foundation Artist Residency, New Orleans, Louisiana
Artist Talks
2025 breath of song : Artist Salon with Shana M. griffin and Kennedi Carter, Arthur Roger Gallery
2025 Guest Speaker, Tacet Workshop
2024 Arnold Newman Prize Winner, Maine Media x Griffin Museum (online)
2024 MPS Grant Winners, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans
2024 Perspective is Power, Photoville, New York
2023 “Meet The Artist”, CPW, Kingston
