Lalla Essaydi’s aim was to return to her childhood home in Morocco and understand the woman she has become today by unfolding the culture and space of her childhood. She began a project to photograph these physical spaces before they were lost, and to see the role they played in shaping the metaphorical space of her childhood.
The text, culled from personal journals, chronicles the artists reflections on memory, identity, and personal narrative, she renders it deliberately illegible, yielding little information. But writing itself is an act of rebellion, she explains, because calligraphic writing was historically inaccessible to woman. Writing, then, serves as a delicate act of defiance. It provides a voice, upsetting the silence of confinement and the limitations woman face. Woman in the photographs reside harems, traditionally their ‘proper’ place. Essaydi’s excessive use of text. Fabric and architectural ornamentation pushes the imagery from idealised and alluring toward the absurd and surreal, drawing attention to popular misconceptions and expectations. “My photograph grew out of the need i felt to document actual spaces, especially those of my childhood.” -Lalla Essaydi.
Essaydi’s personal narrative and critical reflection is on her experience as a liberal Moroccan, Arab, African, and Muslim woman living across cultures. She sees her work as “intersecting with the presence and absence of boundaries-of history, gender, architecture, and culture- that mark spaces of possibility and limitations. This is my story as well.”
The text, culled from personal journals, chronicles the artists reflections on memory, identity, and personal narrative, she renders it deliberately illegible, yielding little information. But writing itself is an act of rebellion, she explains, because calligraphic writing was historically inaccessible to woman. Writing, then, serves as a delicate act of defiance. It provides a voice, upsetting the silence of confinement and the limitations woman face. Woman in the photographs reside harems, traditionally their ‘proper’ place. Essaydi’s excessive use of text. Fabric and architectural ornamentation pushes the imagery from idealised and alluring toward the absurd and surreal, drawing attention to popular misconceptions and expectations. “My photograph grew out of the need i felt to document actual spaces, especially those of my childhood.” -Lalla Essaydi.
Essaydi’s personal narrative and critical reflection is on her experience as a liberal Moroccan, Arab, African, and Muslim woman living across cultures. She sees her work as “intersecting with the presence and absence of boundaries-of history, gender, architecture, and culture- that mark spaces of possibility and limitations. This is my story as well.”
Lalla Essaydi, explores the image of women in Islamic society. The follwoing images are from her very cool series entitled Harem in which her subjects are wrapped in robes and henna which echo the decorative Arabic tiles and patterns that wall the incredible interiors. She explores issues surrounding the role of women in Arab culture and their representation in the western European artistic tradition. Her large-scale photographs are based on nineteenth-century Orientalist paintings, but work to subvert those stereotyped and sexualized representations. Aside from their timely and provocative subject matter, Essaydi’s photographs are technically impressive.
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Behind each of her images is weeks of preparation, as the text is composed, the fabrics are dyed to match the setting in which they will appear, and the architectural backdrops are carefully constructed. The entire field of the almost life-size photographs appears in sharp focus, the result of her use of a large-format camera and traditional film. Essaydi explains "The physical harem is the dangerous frontier where sacred law and pleasure collide. This is not the harem of the Western Orientalist imagination, an anxiety-free place of euphoria and the absence of constraints, where the word “harem” has lost its dangerous edge. My harem is based on the historical reality; rather then the artistic images of the West – an idyllic, lustful dream of sexually available women, uninhibited by the moral constraints of 19th Century Europe.” |
Here are two of my responses created using some of my best images from the photo-shoot in the Victoria & Albert museum, I used Photoshop for this final outcome. I ensured my model was from an Arabic heritage to be able to represent Middle Eastern women’s identity, which this strengthened the image to look more accurate, and for her to fit in the scene created. To reach this outcome I have used the same Islamic pattern used on the Harem onto the Islamic dressing (abaya) as if the ceramic wall is projected onto her patterned abaya. A sense of both culture and identity is reflected within my work, it a way in which culture and you identity can be expressed and may have multiple meanings. For example Essaydi uses this in which to represent the Arabian women and how they are not oppressed when coming to reveling who they are confidently by wearing something that simply represents something to do with them such as ethnicity or faith.
I think that overlaying the layer of the harem onto the abaya via Photoshop has worked effectively because of the opacity that has been decreased so that you are still able to tell that it is an Islamic dressing she is wearing. Another way I could achieve this is through printing the pattern out onto transparency paper and over laying it only on the sections I want such as the abaya. Another aspect that has made my work successful and effective was the repeated pattern of the harem that I prudently duplicated to extend the shape of harem and add the vivid blue and for it to show that the location wasn’t a museum but a location in Morocco where the Harems are frequently found.
Her photographs are expressions of her own personal history but can also be taken as reflections on the life of Arab woman in general. Although she opposes to be the representative of all Arab woman due to the range of traditions and laws among the different Arabs nations to presume to speak for everyone. Essaydi captures spaces from her childhood, annotating them with text embedded in the images. Using a self-described painting process, she inscribes woman with flowing script using natural henna dye in place of ink, substituting cloth or skin for paper.
The patterns that are visible are either the arabic text in henna or the islamic patterns, and the big bold brown text that is placed over the forground of words makes it easier to stand out and although the small text is difficult to read the bigger font is easier to read. one of the aspects that i find really interesting in Essaydi.
The patterns that are visible are either the arabic text in henna or the islamic patterns, and the big bold brown text that is placed over the forground of words makes it easier to stand out and although the small text is difficult to read the bigger font is easier to read. one of the aspects that i find really interesting in Essaydi.
Her first major photographic series to explore was Converging Territories (2002-2004), which depicted Islamic women and children in an unoccupied house where Essaydi was once confined for long spells as a child, whenever she was disobedient. The series which followed this, Les Femmes du Maroc (2005-2007), expanded this further, exploring the charged rhetoric of veiling and revealing which surrounds Islamic women, which fascinated me the most therefore, I approached my response in a similar way. For the above image I used different ages of the same gender and racial background and photographed the process of unveiling and revealing more as the individuals becomes younger.
Here is a number of my final experimented responses that I have created using Photoshop. Information and photos of how I have conducted the photoshoot leading up to these final responses, can be found here. It took a while for me to prepare for this photoshoot as I wanted it to contribute to my final pieces so I wanted it to stand out and be created on the highest of my abilities and quality. I tried to incorporate many ideas and influences from other photographers and my own work into one photoshoot. As Lalla Essaydi being one of the most influential photographers in my theme, Culture and Identity, I incorporated her inspiration the most. The way in which I planned this photoshoot is by analysing all my work on what has been successful, what has been less successful and then what I could do to develop these ideas further. I really liked my first response created from my Lalla Essaydi's work of cloning prints and patterns on cultural clothing. However, I didn't want to use Photoshop to edit patterns or words on to the body so that it can look more realistic and I wanted to bring in the idea of words to express an individuals identity and culture. Therefore, I chose to project meaningful words and patterns that may symbolise a person on to their face and body. I figured that the best location for me to do the photoshoot was in a room that had a white background, space and an environment that my model felt comfortable modelling in. Since I wanted to be projecting Arabic words and Islamic patterns because I have a deeper understanding in both, I wanted my model to have the Arabic culture and the Islamic faith symbolise her true identity for the image to be purposeful and not just any random model, modelling for something she doesn't believe or understand. Therefore, using a model that was a Arab was crucial because they would help in making the image look so real and they would fit in very well. Hence why I wanted my model to feel comfortable in the environment that she was in, so that her character or personality would also be able to be easily reflected through the images by her facial expressions, body language, and positions.
Lalla Essaydi uses props within her image so I got some Islamic patterns and some personalised Arabic writing from my model of her views as a Muslim Arab and what shapes her identity. Through using significant text, I hope to get my message very clear to my audience. I used the sublimation printer to get the text on to white fabric for my model to either wear or wrap herself around it. I experimented by printing a couple out and ensuring that the text size, material size was appropriate for my photoshoot, so I printed some in big and some in a smaller size. My aim for the photoshoot is for the Arabic text to completely dominate the space, model, walls, body, literally everything. I also used other props such as a mabkhara (incense burner) that a significant object to women in Arabic countries and as seen in Essaydi's work, she uses that as a prop too.
During the photoshoot, I got my model to wear something white and expose some skin because I wanted the effect of the projector to be projecting the words on to her bare skin as well as her clothes and also her wrapping herself with the big white piece of material. I chose to do this because it shows how she is confidently standing strong with her own identity being revealed and when she is fully covered, the way in which she chooses to represent herself. However, does it necessarily mean that when she is covering herself, her identity has vanished completely? That is a question that has embarked me to investigate these images further and use religious beliefs to support my answers and views. I have concluded that even by covering yourself, whether it is for religious reasons such as the hijab and modesty or insecurity, your identity is still present because you are still revealing an element of you to the world even though it may not be thee complete image of yourself. It is still how you want be seen and reflects your character whether you're an insecure, religious or secretive person. Culture plays a big and significant part in shaping our identity, without us even noticing sometimes, but or faith, age, gender, beliefs can be easily expressed through photography. Through using both genders, different ages and cultural backgrounds I tried to tackle some of the stereotypes that exist within our society and also express some of the peoples cultural issues and beliefs.
Lalla Essaydi uses props within her image so I got some Islamic patterns and some personalised Arabic writing from my model of her views as a Muslim Arab and what shapes her identity. Through using significant text, I hope to get my message very clear to my audience. I used the sublimation printer to get the text on to white fabric for my model to either wear or wrap herself around it. I experimented by printing a couple out and ensuring that the text size, material size was appropriate for my photoshoot, so I printed some in big and some in a smaller size. My aim for the photoshoot is for the Arabic text to completely dominate the space, model, walls, body, literally everything. I also used other props such as a mabkhara (incense burner) that a significant object to women in Arabic countries and as seen in Essaydi's work, she uses that as a prop too.
During the photoshoot, I got my model to wear something white and expose some skin because I wanted the effect of the projector to be projecting the words on to her bare skin as well as her clothes and also her wrapping herself with the big white piece of material. I chose to do this because it shows how she is confidently standing strong with her own identity being revealed and when she is fully covered, the way in which she chooses to represent herself. However, does it necessarily mean that when she is covering herself, her identity has vanished completely? That is a question that has embarked me to investigate these images further and use religious beliefs to support my answers and views. I have concluded that even by covering yourself, whether it is for religious reasons such as the hijab and modesty or insecurity, your identity is still present because you are still revealing an element of you to the world even though it may not be thee complete image of yourself. It is still how you want be seen and reflects your character whether you're an insecure, religious or secretive person. Culture plays a big and significant part in shaping our identity, without us even noticing sometimes, but or faith, age, gender, beliefs can be easily expressed through photography. Through using both genders, different ages and cultural backgrounds I tried to tackle some of the stereotypes that exist within our society and also express some of the peoples cultural issues and beliefs.