Layla Love

In Layla Love's work, she is able to go beyond aesthetics, striving to shed light on hidden truths. Her art captures life as a series of adventures with her intention being to ignite a spark of passion and purpose for the viewer.

Love's artistic path has been anything but conventional. Having experienced the confines of foreign prisons and the grandeur of royal palaces, she has learned to employ the power of creative force to transcend boundaries. At twenty-one years old, Love went on her first photojournalism assignment in Camaron, Nigeria, and Chad. In Camaron, she noticed a very disturbing scene with old men with very young girls and learned of the horrors of sex trafficking. After spending five years traveling through numerous war-torn regions, Love returned to New York City where she began working with Veteran Feminists of America.

She began photographing for and traveling with Gloria Steinem, who has since been a long-term mentor over the past fifteen years. Layla was having lunch at Gloria's house one afternoon when Gloria suggested that Love start an art-based anti-trafficking organization. At this point, Rise Of The Butterfly was born and has been in operation for the last seven years. This is a topic that is so dark and so gruesome that it takes strength, character, and faith to move forward. But what better is there to do on Earth than to help each other rise? Love has received recognition and several awards for her service work, including the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Award.

Layla Loves' Career

Love's photography has garnered international recognition, with exhibitions spanning the globe. Her work has graced prestigious venues such as the White House and at art world congregations such as Paris Photo, Art Basel, and the AiPAD Photography Show in New York. Sharing the same spaces with artistic luminaries such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pablo Picasso, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Kara Walker, Love's photography has solidified her position as a respected figure in the art world.

One of Love's most celebrated images, "The Fullest Bloom," captivated the attention of the Tiffany & Co. Art Director, Anne Rogers, leading to its adaptation for over 30 of their diamond showrooms worldwide. This attests to Love's meticulous attention to detail and love for creating that which elevates beauty.

Reflecting on her artistic journey, Love's passion for photography traces back to her childhood. By the time she was twelve, she found a mentor who taught her the intricacies of film development and printing. From thereon, she started immersing herself in the darkroom. In recent years, she has created mixed media pieces falling into contemporary art that explore the layering of paint and photography employed with mixed media on precious woods with 24-carat gold leaf. With degrees in journalism and global communications, Love recognized the immense impact of visual imagery in our modern communication process.

Through her art, she bridges the tangible and intangible elements of existence, seeking that which transcends words. It is during these moments when language falls short that Love turns to her art, expressing emotions and experiences that elude verbal expression. Love’s ethos is one of reverence for our world through environmental sustainability. She believes that art loses its ego when paired with purpose, therein she creates with an understanding that art changes people and that people change the world.