© Shadi Ghadirian
Despite cultural and political pressures, women in the Middle East are producing some of the most prominent and influential photographic work in Iran and the Arab world. In societies dominated largely by men, female artists are using photography to explore their own issues of identity, value, and question the world in which they live. They are telling stories through imagery – and we hear them loud and clear.
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is currently presenting a photography exhibit that features the work of women photographers from the Middle East. “She Who Tells a Story” will be up until January 12, 2014, and showcases the work of 12 female photographers.
Each photographer’s work varies in style, form, and subject. Yet, beyond the differences, the overall body of work contains the common thread of addressing the complexities of identity.
“Alia, Beirut, Lebanon,” from the series “A Girl and Her Room,” 2010
Pigment Print
© Rania Matar, Courtesy of the artist, Carroll and Sons, Boston and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pigment Print
© Rania Matar, Courtesy of the artist, Carroll and Sons, Boston and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“Mariam, Bourj al Shamali Palestinian Refugee Camp, Tyre, Lebanon,” from the series “A Girl and Her Room,” 2009
Pigment Print
© Rania Matar, Courtesy of the artist, Carroll and Sons, Boston and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pigment Print
© Rania Matar, Courtesy of the artist, Carroll and Sons, Boston and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“Maral Afsharian,” 2010
Chromogenic print
© Newsha Tavakolian, Courtesy of the artist and East Wing Contemporary Gallery
Chromogenic print
© Newsha Tavakolian, Courtesy of the artist and East Wing Contemporary Gallery
Dont Forget This Is Not You (for Sahar Lotfi), 2010.
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum.
© Newsha Tavakolian, Courtesy of the artist and East Wing Contemporary Gallery.
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum.
© Newsha Tavakolian, Courtesy of the artist and East Wing Contemporary Gallery.
Untitled #5, 2008
Chromogenic print
© Gohar Dashti, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie White Project, Paris.
Chromogenic print
© Gohar Dashti, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie White Project, Paris.
Untitled, from “Qajar,” 1998
Gelatin silver print
© Shadi Ghadirian, Courtesy of the artist and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Gelatin silver print
© Shadi Ghadirian, Courtesy of the artist and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Untitled, from “Qajar,” 1998
Gelatin silver print
© Shadi Ghadirian, Courtesy of the artist and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Gelatin silver print
© Shadi Ghadirian, Courtesy of the artist and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
To preview more work from these artists and others, be sure to visit Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts“She Who Tells a Story” exhibit from now until January 12, 2014.
Until Next Time .
