Leena Jayaswal
Leena Jayaswal is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer with deep expertise and interest in issues that intersect race, representation and identity. Her award-winning films have been screened in various film festivals around the country. “Crossing Lines” was picked up for national distribution by NETA and has been broadcast on over 100 PBS affiliates across the country. The film has won numerous international and national awards and is currently being distributed by New Day Films. Her photography has been nationally recognized in galleries around the country, including solo shows at the Gandhi Memorial Center and International Visions Gallery. Group shows include Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The Washington Project for the Arts/ Corcoran Gallery of Art, Arlington Arts Center, Photoworks, Hilyer Art Space, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Lexington Art League and the Studio Gallery. Jayaswal’s images are in collections at Center for Photography, En Foco, Light Work, Photo Center Northwest through Society for Photographic Education and the Asian American Arts Centre. Previously she has worked for famed photographer, Mary Ellen Mark, and with the Sandra Berler Gallery. Currently she is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at American University. She received her MFA in Photography (summa cum laude) from the Maryland Institute College of Art and two BA’s in Visual Media and Anthropology from American University.