Miriam Romais is a New York based curator, editor, photographer and director for En Foco, a non-profit that nurtures U.S. based photographers of Latino, African, Asian and Native American heritage. Her dual nationality (U.S.–Brazil) and fluency in Portuguese / English / Spanish gives insight into various Latino cultures, and is a critical part of her own artistic explorations.
Romais is part of an upcoming Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture’s new series, Visually Speaking (covered by C-SPAN), and is a panelist for (Mis)representation: the Under Representation of Non-Whites and Women in the Arts (PhotoPlus Expo, 10/27/12). She curated exhibitions for organizations such as Aperture (Mexico + Afuera), Light Work (Tracing Memory), SPE (Interstice) and En Foco. As editor for En Foco’s Nueva Luz photographic journal, the publication rose to a four-time finalist for a Lucie Award in the support category of “Best Photography Magazine”, and is winner of three IPPIE Awards.
She was co-chair of the 2010 Society for Photographic Education’s National Conference, titled Facing Diversity: Leveling the Playing Field in the Photographic Arts. As a panelist/reviewer, she has served with PhotoNOLA; FotoFest; NYSCA and others. As an awarded photographer, her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition Americanos: Latino Life in the U.S.