Farah Al Qasimi

Magic Hour

Last month, I went to visit Farah Al Qasimi at her home and studio in Williamsburg. After talking with her, I thought about her space and how both her studio and her living area represented different parts of her in a way. Both very smart, both refined, but in different ways - the living space had an elegance and a lightness to it, while the studio had a sense of humour and playfulness. I took it a step further and then thought about how those rooms also reflect the different ways she photographs men and women, which we'll get into in this episode

Farah’s work explores issues of identity, beauty and surface in the United Arab Emerates. Her work puts into question the way people are represented and speaks to and plays with traditional genres of the medium such as portraiture. She grew up between the United States and Abu Dabi, and finally moved to the US when she enrolled at Yale. She enrolled in the music program at Yale, and only switched into the photography program in her third year after a couple inspiring classes.

Her photos have been exhibited internationally, and last year, she had a solo show in NY last year called More Good New and published the book Body Shop. In addition to her practise as a photographer and a filmmaker, she teaches as well in the photography departments at RISD and NYU.

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