#jeddah diary

[goldenfever]

olivia arthur : from jeddah diary

[m0thstardust]

Olivia Arthur, Jeddah Diary “My first impression of Saudi Arabia was the big empty roads and houses with impossibly high walls. Everything seemed to be happening out of sight, somewhere else, behind closed doors.I had been sent to Jeddah to teach a workshop for local women photographers. My students introduced me to bits of their world, and gradually I made friends and came back again. Getting a glimpse behind those often closed doors, I tried to piece together an understanding of the bubble-world that they live in.”

[minusmanhattan]

Jeddah Diary by Olivia Arthur.

Arthur on photographing young women in Saudi Arabia: 

I explored various options. I tried cutting a bit of the picture out – but it feels aggressive taking a pair of scissors to an image. Then I tried putting little things on top of the image to cover their faces. Eventually, I decided to re-photograph them with a strong flash to obscure the faces. What was nice was the texture this gave the picture, which made it feel more like a physical object. I got slightly obsessed with trying out different photo labs to see what texture of matte paper they had.

The project became my first book – Jeddah Diary – and this picture is on the front cover. Some people might find it hard looking at a book of photography without seeing any faces, but being forced to use techniques to hide them makes it more interesting. Some photographers might go to places like Saudi and just shoot interiors or objects but here you can almost see the face so it reminds you of the censorship, without being brutal.