A Providence, Rhode Island native Leiyana Simone is a photo-based artist with a focus on subjects of color, her community, and her culture. Her work aims to highlight the extraordinary within the ordinary. Her portraits strives to give positive representation to people of color and capture their vulnerability, raw beauty, and energy in an ethereal light.
She grew up trying various mediums including drawing, acting, screen printing, dancing, acrylic + oil painting, and eventually photography. Starting out with digital photography as a hobby in 2017 after dropping out of college, eventually she would find that this was part of her purpose. In 2020 she moved into analog photography through capturing events like the BLM protests with 35mm film. And currently in 2023 she is now learning and prancing mainly film photography on medium format. Her style is influenced by other artists such as Deana Lawson, Petra Collins, and Kennedi Carter. Her work is warm, timeless, and celestial.