{"id":211336,"date":"2019-03-27T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T10:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=211336"},"modified":"2019-06-30T16:31:32","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T19:31:32","slug":"photos-of-middle-east-usa-girls-featured-in-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/photos-of-middle-east-usa-girls-featured-in-exhibit\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos of Middle East, USA girls featured in exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The Lebanese-born, American-naturalized photographer\u00a0Rania Matar<\/a>\u00a0(pictured above)<\/em> took pictures of Middle East and United States girls, at different points in their lives. Her work will be featured in the exhibit Taswir, a fotografia \u00e1rabe contempor\u00e2nea<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Taswir, contemporary Arab photography), running from Thursday (28) to April 28 at Instituto Tomie Ohtake in S\u00e3o Paulo. In an email interview with ANBA, Rania went in-depth about the photographs in her first showing in Brazil.<\/p>\n

The pictures are part of Becoming<\/em>, a project comprising portraits of girls aged nine to 12, and then years later, when they were 13-16. The earliest girl photos were part of another project by Rania \u2013 L\u2019Enfant-Femme<\/em> (Woman Child), which was about depicting preadolescent girls and their interaction with the camera. Becoming<\/em> is a sequel to L\u2019Enfant-Femme<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy aim is to portray the girls’ sense of identity when allowed to pose themselves as they wish in front of the camera, and to capture alternatively the angst, the self-confidence or lack thereof, the body language, the sense of selfhood and the developing sense of sexuality and womanhood girls this age begin to experience,\u201d says Rania.<\/p>\n

The artist asked her subjects not to smile for the pictures. The intention is to stay away from selfie-style pictures. And because of the camera she was using, the subjects couldn\u2019t see the pictures right away. \u201cAccustomed to the instant gratification of viewing themselves through digital photography, the girls experience the suspense of not knowing immediately how they will be represented and they take the photo session more seriously,\u201d explains Rania.<\/p>\n

The photographer recalls being moved and captivated by observing the girls\u2019 shifting bodies and attitudes over time. \u201cAnd to simultaneously see the individuality of each girl as she develops her own identity, but also the universality of being a girl undergoing those natural transformations,\u201d says the Lebanese. The photographs focus on subtle changes in body language, hand gestures, foot stance and attitude.<\/p>\n

The exhibit in Brazil is being held by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Arab World Institute (AWI).<\/a>\u00a0It will feature 78 photos by 14 photographers from 12 different countries. It\u2019s a reissue of former AWI shows, one of which on Arab civilization. It will mark March 25 \u2013 Arab Community Day in Brazil \u2013 and the Arab League\u2019s 74th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n

Rania told ANBA that her work is very personal and relates to her life as a Lebanese-American woman and mother. \u201cAs a Lebanese-born American woman and mother, my background and cross-cultural experiences inform my art,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her photography explores questions of personal and collective identity through images of adolescents and women in both the United States and the Middle East, \u201cin an effort to focus on notions of identity and individuality, within the context of the underlying universality of these experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rania is enthusiastic about her showing in Brazil. \u201cI hope my photographs make people look at women from Arab countries through a different lens. We are girls and women, just like any other woman anywhere going through the same physical, biological and emotional changes of growing up,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Rania was trained as an architect at the American University of Beirut and at Cornell University, but she always had a strong leaning towards art. She first started taking photos of her kids, 19 years ago, and fell in love with it. \u201cIt slowly became a very important part of my life,\u201d she says. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Rania decided to take pictures in the Middle East, in a bid to tell a different story than the \u201cus vs. them\u201d news rhetoric. \u201cAfter that I never went back to architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rania\u2019s work has been shown in the United States, Lebanon, Syria, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the UAE, Singapore, Thailand and Argentina. Last year she was named a Guggenheim Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation \u2013 a fellowship awarded to people who display outstanding artistic abilities. Also a book author, Rania has won numerous prizes in the United States and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Quick facts <\/strong><\/p>\n

Exhibition: Taswir, contemporary Arab photography
\nOpening: March 28 ,7:30pm, guests only
\nThrough April 28, 2019, Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 8pm
\nFree admission<\/p>\n

Instituto Tomie Ohtake
\nAvenida Faria Lima, 201, Complexo Ach\u00e9 Cultural
\nEntrance on Rua Corop\u00e9s, 88, Pinheiros, S\u00e3o Paulo, SP
\nNearest metro station: Faria Lima Station, Line 4 \u2013 Yellow
\nPhone +55 11 2245-1900
\nWebsite: www.institutotomieohtake.org.br<\/a><\/p>\n

Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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