Ayana V. Jackson seeks to crystalize experiences of contemporary Africa and African diasporic societies, which she approaches via a series of photographic practices, such as reportage and studio-based portraiture. Her combination of technical proficiency and digital collage make for compelling, and at times, haunting tableaus, that cut directly into African and African-American imaginaries.

Jackson has been presented in numerous international exhibitions. Solo presentations include Projection Surface at Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg, in 2011; Archival Impulse & Poverty Pornography at Baudoin Lebon in Paris, in 2013; and Distant Selves at Galerie Sho Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Japan in 2013-2014. She was selected for Paris Photo in 2011; Tokyo Photo in 2013; and included in the group exhibition The Postmillennial Black Madonna: An Exhibition in Two Parts: Paradise and Inferno held at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) and Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn, USA, in 2011. She received the 2014 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship for Photography and has received grants from the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Inter America Foundation, and the US State Department, among others.