New York Baye Falls is an ongoing documentary project I began in Fall 2024. The Baye Fall are a subgroup of the Mouride Sufi Islamic Brotherhood rooted in Senegal, known for discipline, mutual support, and the belief that work itself is the worship of Allah. In New York, however, they are often seen only as street vendors. A 2024 report found that 55 percent of the city’s general-merchandise street vendors were born in Senegal.

I have mainly followed Baye Falls who crossed the southern U.S. border between 2020 and 2023. The project moves between Canal Street in Lower Manhattan, Harlem and the Bronx: street vending and encounters with New York Police Department and immigration enforcement (ICE); weekly religious gatherings for Baye Falls; shared meals and apartments; and the systems of financial, material and emotional support that hold the community together.