Melissa Alcena

Melissa Alcena is a portrait and documentary photographer from The Bahamas. In 2012, Alcena completed an Applied Photography course at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. In 2016, she moved back home to The Bahamas, where her practice developed into highlighting individuality and subsequently shifting the Caribbean narrative around how people and places are perceived – a focus she now applies to subjects worldwide. Her images are intimate and powerful, giving a voice to her subjects beyond their environment. Alcena currently lives and works in New York City where the scope of her work includes an active studio, photojournalistic endeavours and commercial photography. She was most recently engaged to execute portraits for the TIME 100 list Gala 2024, shooting various notables, including Thelma Golden, Billy Porter, Colman Domingo, Kelley Robinson and Michael J. Fox, among others. Past clients have included The New York Times, Vogue China, L’Uomo, Vogue, Nike, and Wall Street Journal.

Photo credit: Blair Meadows.