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Biography
Tasneem Alsultan (born October 10, 1985) is a Saudi-American photographer. She is particularly known for her work on gender and social issues in Saudi Arabia and is a member of the Rawiya women’s Middle Eastern photography collective. She has covered stories in Saudi Arabia for both Vogue Italia and Vanity Fair Italy and has herself been featured in publications such as the New York Times Lens Blog
Early life and career
Tasneem was born in Tucson, Arizona, but completed the majority of early schooling in the U.K. She then returned to Saudi Arabia at the age of 16, earning her undergraduate degree at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. She also holds a master's degree in social linguistics and anthropology from Portland State University. After graduating, she taught English courses at colleges in both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia until taking up documentary photography full-time. One of her most popular projects, "Saudi Tales of Love," explores the realities of marriage, divorce, and widowhood in Saudi Arabia through the eyes of Saudi women. Alsultan has mentioned that the project was partly influenced by her own personal experience with arranged marriage at the age of 17, which eventually ended in divorce.
Alsultan also has a personal photography business where she photographs Saudi weddings. In 2016, her wedding photography was profiled by National Geographic, where she stated that she has photographed more than 120 weddings worldwide. In April 2016, Tasneem was selected by the British Journal of Photography as one of the 16 emerging photographers to watch in 2016, and was later selected by PDN as one of the 30 photographers to watch in 2017. She has recently extended her social documentary photography to Kuwait, where she is currently working on a project that focuses on capturing the unique challenges facing LGBTQ individuals in the country.
Exhibitions
2017
- "Saudi Tales of Love wins first prize in Contemporary Issues ‘Professional’ at the Sony World Photography Awards and exhibited in Somerset House, London, UK
- Photographing the Female, Focus Photo Festival, Sun Mill Studios Compound Lower Parel, Mumbai, India
- ‘Saudi Tales of Love’ Gulf Photo Plus, UAE
- Rawiya Photo Collective: ‘We Do Not Choose Our Dictators’, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Texas, USA
- Middle East now, Florence, Italy
- Rawiya Photo Collective: ‘We Do Not Choose Our Dictators’, Aperture, New York, USA
- La Quatrieme Image, Paris, France
2016
- ‘Saudi Tales of Love’ Photo Kathmandu Festival 2016, India
- Where Are We Now?, East Wing presentation at Paris Photo 2016
- Tiblisi Photo Festival, Georgia
- Slideshow at Visa Pour L’Image