Sobia Ahmad

Turning Tables - a photo project

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Sexualized depictions of Eastern women in orientalist paintings and experiences of being called “exotic” by western men served as an inspiration for these photos. In a culture that glorifies thin white women, calling a woman of color “exotic” only serves to “other” us. In that light, “exotic” ceases to be a compliment; it is a ploy to tell us that white is “normal.” Reversed roles - a powerful eastern woman and a sexualized and vulnerable western man - is a response to a world that has not only, for centuries, normalized “whiteness,” but has also unjustly portrayed the existence of the colored woman as that of an exotic sexual commodity. 

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These photos have been displayed in shows in Washington D.C., Maryland, Colorado, and London, UK. 

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