Aya in my backyard, Cape Town, 2025

Moena Weiss  

Moena Joy - Dada Weiss is a Berlin-based photographer. With a background in psychology, Moena is fascinated with documenting the human environment and exploring the encounter between the camera and people she photographs. She
works mostly with portraiture. As well as paint on photographs, collage and Video Installations. For her, a portrait of a person holds tremendous vulnerability and intimacy between the photographer and their subject and thus establishes a special form of relationship. It is mostly important for her to connect with the person she will photograph upfront to earn the trust and that people let her see facets of
their true self.

Moena Joy- Dada Weiss graduated from Neue Schule für Fotografie Berlin in 2019. She started photography 10 years ago and has continued to pursue this profession since. In 2018 and 2020, she participated in a group exhibition at Harvey Milk Photography Center & LGBTQ+ Center in San Francisco. She and 5 other photographers established the photo collective, _Innen where they had projects and group shows. She also took part in other group shows outside of her collective, such as the one at Neue Schule für Fotografie and at Ori Forum für künstlerische Bildmedien in 2019. In December 2021 Smoking Birds was displayed as a Solo Show at the Galerie SLP at Bikini Berlin and in April 2022 Smoking Birds were part of group show “identity" at Studio 185 at Bikini Berlin. For Pride Month 2022, Smoking Birds Vol. 2 shown as solo show in the Galerie SLP and as subsequent group exhibition in Galerie SLP in summer 2022. The project Smoking Birds was shortlisted for Athens Photo Festival 2022.