Wiki & Abstracts (no. 39) - Shirin Neshat

One thing I want to do with my life is travel the world and photograph what I experience.

I love learning about other cultures, and especially the women and the lives they lead.

Post 9/11 there has been an intense focus on the Middle East, and yet nothing is truly known about the people that live there. Most Americans can say only a few facts, like that they are Islamic and they live in a male dominated society. For me, it's the women of the Middle East that are the most misunderstood by the media.

One photographer who works to tell the story of the women of Iran is Shirin Neshat. Born in Iraq Neshat has the unique position that she is an Iranian women with a western education and an Iranian upbringing.

Neshat takes photos Iranian women and uses symbolism to convey messages about the role they play in their society. A common theme is that she uses sacred or well-known Iranian text written in beautiful calligraphy and paints them directly onto her subjects, in way saying what the women cannot say. Her photos are all about giving s voice to the women of Iran.

Neshat uses guns into a lot of her photos because she wishes to symbolize the violence in the lives of Iranian women and the pain that it causes them and their families.

Traditionally in Iran it is forbidden to bear the bottom of your feet, so writing calligraphy on exposed feet is controversial.

Neshat is also not only a amazing photographer she is also a talented film maker, check out her movie Women Without Men:

Neshat is a super incredible individual, and this interview speaks for itself:

I think it is essential for women to learn from other women, especially women so different from ourselves.