Akintola Hanif’s work is heavily rooted in cross-cultural photojournalism; fine art photography; media coverage and documentation of quality of life, education and class issues.
His photography has been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Tri-State area; in such venues as the Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery, Danny Simmons Corridor Gallery, Aljira, Columbia University, Princeton University and the Newark Museum.
“HYCIDE explores the roles we create for ourselves and those created for us, challenging the status quo while bearing witness to the feared, neglected and misunderstood. Our mission is to tell stories of survival and freedom, with no judgment.” – Akintola Hanif
In 2005, Akintola directed and produced his first short film, comprised mostly of still photos; entitled for the kick off of The Museum of African American Music.
Akintola’s haunting still photos also contributed majorly to his well received film project, . This documentary chronicled gang life and the challenges of prisoner societal reentry and was produced by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.The film debuted at the Newark Museum on May 13th 2008.
His work has received favorable critical review and coverage by The Village Voice, The Star Ledger, The Liberator, Uptown Magazine and many others. His corporate commissions include projects for Prudential and Red Bull.
As the resident documentarian at New Jersey’s YouthBuild Newark, Akintola documents all aspects of YouthBuild programming including but not limited to personal transformation stories of the diverse participant population.
On October 25th, 2009 Akintola opened his multi-media studio HYCIDE in downtown Newark, NJ.
In 2011, Akintola founded HYCIDE Magazine, a quarterly magazine dedicated to giving voice to the views, experiences and dreams of people who are often marginalized from the mainstream. The magazine not only features powerful articles and photography, but is also accompanied by strong multimedia components on its website, hycide.com. On October 21, 2012, Akintola, together with the Newark Arts Council and Aljira Gallery, proudly celebrated the one year anniversary of the print magazine as part of the Newark Open Doors Tour.
HYCIDE [Magazine] is about challenging elitist ideals and illustrating what’s really going on in the minds, hearts and lives of some of America’s finest, yet forgotten people.
- Akintola Hanif
Akintola Hanif grew up in Brooklyn, where his father exposed him early to the visual arts scene in places like the National Black Theater and the Studio Museum in Harlem. In his teens, Akintola began painting murals in New York City with the tag “Dest” and one of his murals was featured in Henry Chalfant’s 1985 book “Spraycan Art”. At 19, Akintola gained the alias “Hyze” and soon after moved to New Jersey. In 1996, Hanif started studying photography at Gibbs College in Montclair, from which he ultimately received an Associates Degree in Visual Communications. He then pursued his creative interests at New York City’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology.
For more on Akintola Hanif, visit http://hycide.com
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