Keisha Scarville is an American photographer and mixed-media artist born in 1975 and based in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in a family with roots in Guyana and the Caribbean diaspora, her work explores themes of loss, memory, and the elusive body, particularly as experienced by people in diaspora whose identities are in flux. She studied at Brooklyn College and later earned an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and she has taught photography at institutions including the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), part of the City University of New York.

Scarville’s visual language is grounded in photography but extends across sculpture, installation, and collected objects. She often employs layering, fragmentation, and the use of found or archival materials to suggest what cannot be directly depicted—absence, latent histories, and the spaces between what is seen and known. Her distinctive approach distinguishes her from peers who focus on documentary realism; instead, she creates poetic, conceptual images that treat the photograph as a material object and a site of contemplation. Her work frequently references the body as a vessel of cultural memory and the landscapes of the Caribbean and its diasporic communities.

Among her major projects is “Passports,” a series created over more than a decade (2012–2025) that uses passport photographs and personal documents to examine identity, travel, and the bureaucratic structures that define belonging. Another significant body of work, “Hot/Slow/Step,” was presented as an exhibition featuring large photographs and objects made and collected by the artist, exploring transformation and the unknown. Her photobook “Alma,” published in conjunction with an exhibition at Light Work, focuses on the relationship between place, memory, and the maternal line, drawing on her own family history. These projects matter because they interrogate how personal and collective histories are encoded in images and everyday objects.

Scarville has exhibited widely, including at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Rush Arts Gallery, and the Light Work gallery in Syracuse, New York. In 2025, the Brooklyn Rail reviewed her solo exhibition “Passports 2012–2025” at Higher Pictures, and in 2026 she was announced as the winner of the Brooklyn Museum’s prestigious artist award. She has participated in artist talks, podcast interviews, and residencies, and her work is held in institutional collections. Her teaching career has influenced a generation of emerging photographers, and she remains an active voice in dialogues about photography, diaspora, and contemporary art.

For photobook collectors, Scarville’s publications are notable for their intimate sequencing and integration of archival and personal material. “Alma,” for example, pairs images with text and design that echo the fragmented experience of memory. Collectors should pay attention to her evolving output because she consistently pushes the boundaries of how photography can represent absence and identity. Works like “Passports” offer a compelling entry point due to their conceptual clarity and resonance with current debates on migration and citizenship. Her books and exhibition catalogues are produced with thoughtful attention to materials, often using unconventional print techniques that reward careful viewing.

〔PBL-BIO/2〕