136 - Tasneem Alsultan
© Tasneem Alsultan
Born in the US and raised between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia where she is currently based, Tasneem Alsultan is an investigative photographer, storyteller and global traveller. With an inquisitive eye and camera at hand, she offers intimate and unique perspectives into the everyday lives of her subjects, telling their stories from her heart while striving to humanize and connect their realities to her audiences. Her work largely focuses on documenting social issues and rights-based topics in Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf region, aiming to challenge stereotypical perceptions of the Middle East and portray a region and a people that do not conform to expectations. Covering stories primarily for The New York Times and National Geographic, Tasneem documents ground-breaking developments in Saudi and the surrounding region, including most recently, the lifting of the driving ban for Saudi women.
Selected as one of 10 recipients of the Magnum Foundation/ Prince Clause/ AFAC grant in 2015, Tasneem began working on her project Saudi Tales of Love which has been published in Time’s Lightbox, and later exhibited at Paris Photo, PhotoKathmandu, and screened at Visa Pour L’Image, Perpignan in 2016. Tasneem was selected by the British Journal of Photography among the best 16 emerging photographers to watch, and PDN’s 30 photographers to watch in 2017. She was a finalist in the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards in Contemporary Issues. She joined Rawiya, the first all-female photography collective from the Middle East. In 2018 she joined the Canon Ambassador program as the program’s first Arab female photographer and was selected as as one of the 12 recipients of the Joop Swart Masterclass, part of the World Press Photo, Netherlands. In 2019, Tasneem was selected as a recipients of the Catchlight Fellowship to continue her work on Saudi women. She has also received an honorable mention for the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism.
Having focused her research on anthropological studies of Saudi women, Tasneem holds a Master of Art in Social Linguistics from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Linguistics from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi.
On episode 136, Tasneem discusses, among other things:
her recent lockdown adventures.
Her academic parents and formative years in England at a Catholic school.
Getting her first camera aged 9.
Facing criticism for presenting an unvarnished version of her region.
Getting married, having children very young and becoming a divorcee.
Her project Saudi Tales of Love and why she included images of her personal diaries.
Transitioning to documentary from wedding photography.
Working for National Geographic.
Being told she would never be a good photographer.
Stubborness.
Her Seeing Saudi project.
Trying to represent the Saudi women she photographs.
Referenced:
“I’m very hungry to learn, basically. And you have to be really hungry to want to always grow if you want this to be, I guess, a fulfilling profession.”
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INFORM THE MIND, INSPIRE THE SOUL
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