Project Detail: Western Women's Journeys in Saudi Arabia

Contest:

Women photographers exhibition 2016



Brand:

LuganoPhotoDays



Author:

abeer bajandouh bajandouh

 

Project Info

Western Women's Journeys in Saudi Arabia

An investigation into the fascinating stories behind twelve Western women residing in Saudi Arabia. Their extraordinary lives needed to be brought to light; not by being exposed, but merely by being seen and contemplated. Their interviews discussed the following themes:

· Identity

· Lifestyle

· Social life

· Employment and education

· Religion

· Freedom

· Culture and tradition

· Stereotypes

· Home

The aim of this project is to shed light on the situation of Western women living in Saudi Arabia. My camera was my visual diary in this journey. The photographs investigated the relationship between the women and their places and personal belongings. I believe photographing their spaces and their natural surroundings enabled me to express their characters and aspects of their personalities.

Photography can be seen as a tool to convey reality; our information about the world comes from images. It can also be seen as a witness to something that happened in front of the camera, therefore it can present real photographs of the world in which we live. In this project, each photograph was devoted to each of stage of the interview, which examined nine important aspects of the women’s lives. Combining images with text helped emphasised the purpose of this project and produced thoughts and feelings not created by either alone.

In consideration of the differences between Arabic culture and Western culture, they expressed their opinions on life inside Saudi Arabia, what had changed for them since they moved and how they now perceive their homeland.

Photos