You are not alone: Shirin Neshat

The first thing I noticed about the selection of Shirin Neshat’s photographs was the beauty. Shirin Neshat, an exiled Iranian now living in New York, “show[s] and tell[s] what has been forbidden to show and tell” (http://www.iranian.com/Arts/Dec97/Neshat/index.html). She reveals the beauty and the femininity of the Iranian woman that has been hidden. What is most interesting to me is that in her photography, she never violates any of the Islamic laws concerning the coverage of women.

While she, at first, seemed to be a feminist to me, Neshat claims that she is not a feminist because she is “not generally interested in considering women’s rights in relation to equality with men, or in a competition with men, but rather within their own rights and feminine space” (http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/asked-and-answered-shirin-neshat/#more-81605).

When I looked at the photographs again, I realized that this statement makes sense. Neshat photographs beautiful women, abiding to Islamic dress code laws, owning their femininity despite their denied rights. They own themselves within the rights they currently have in their own “feminine space”. Her artwork does not have feminist themes. If it did, perhaps the women photographed would be breaking Islamic laws. However, in all of her work, they are complying gracefully, without opposition. One of the photos that really stuck out to me is the one where the Iranian woman is covered from head to toe in black, while the young boy beside her is naked.

While this image draws attention to what might be considered inequality here, in the United States, to those who do not understand Muslim culture. However, the concealed woman is not fighting it. She is holding her son’s hand like she would normally. This, the fact that women are concealed when men are not, is just how it is.

The women photographed by Neshat do not seem upset or restless with Islamic law, rather they are comfortable with it and believe that it is right. They are concealed, hidden, and perhaps oppressed, but they are beautiful and true to their Islamic beliefs and doctrine.

The image I have attached is a photograph by Mina Momeni, entitled You Are Not Alone from http://caledoniyya.com/2008/07/21/mina-momeni/. While Moneni’s photographs do not appear as “raw” as Neshat’s. They have the same concept. The women photographed are following Islamic law, but are still beautiful. The photo and the title are making a statement that the women may be oppressed but are still not alone. While Neshat’s women seem to be settled and all right with the laws they must follow, these women do look more affected by the laws. Which do you like more?