Abdulai Sesay
Abdulai Sesay is a photographer, lighting director, creative producer, and educator based in White Plains, NY. His work spans commercial, advertising, beauty, product, and moving-image production, with a practice grounded in the expressive, technical, and conceptual possibilities of light. He received his BFA from William Paterson University in 2003.
Abdulai is senior director of production and content marketing strategy at MAC Group, where he leads end-to-end content strategy and production across a portfolio of imaging and lighting brands. Over more than two decades with the company, he has built and directed a production department responsible for concept development, scripting, studio lighting, on-set direction, and final delivery across digital, social, and broadcast platforms. His work includes educational media, product launches, brand films, advertising campaigns, and creator collaborations.
He is also brand and marketing manager for Sekonic, overseeing global strategy for the multimillion-dollar light-meter brand and translating the needs of photographers, filmmakers, educators, and industry partners into product stories, educational initiatives, and marketing campaigns. His professional practice includes collaborations with brands such as American Express Centurion, HigherDose, Naeem Khan, Fujifilm, Broncolor, Profoto, Godox, Elinchrom, X-Rite, Mamiya, L’Oréal, Pepsi, Adorama, and Sekonic.
As a lighting director and photographer, Abdulai remains closely engaged with the making of images, shaping visual language through lighting design, camera craft, and collaborative production. He has taught lighting and commercial photography workshops for the Eddie Adams Workshop, Elinchrom, Professional Photographers of America, Peculiar Collective, and Adorama Events, and has delivered talks at SUNY Purchase and William Paterson University. His teaching centers on helping students develop a confident, intentional relationship to light while connecting creative experimentation to the realities of contemporary commercial, editorial, and fine-art practice.