The Iranian queen of fado: Newsha Tavakolian

Lis­ten © New­sha Tavakolian

Mrs. Deane profiles our very own Newsha Tavakolian's wonderful new project:

Slowly, doggedly, per­sis­tently, steadily New­sha Tavako­lian has been build­ing her career, first as a pho­to­jour­nal­ist for local news­pa­pers in Iran, then work­ing for inter­na­tional media, today includ­ing reg­u­lar con­tri­bu­tions to the New York Times Lens blog. Now she is edg­ing towards the world where doc­u­men­tary meets art project, announc­ing her arrival with a project aptly called Lis­ten. Lis­ten deals with female ambi­tions being frus­trated but not extin­guished by the pow­ers that be. If women in Iran are for­bid­den to sing solo or record music, then noth­ing stops them to per­form in silence.

Click to see full text: http://www.beikey.net/mrs-deane/?p=5653

Transsexuals in the Holy Land, the Osama Diaries and the Egyptian sense of humor

© Tanya Habjouqa

The wonderful Mrs. Deane photo blog profiles Rawiya member Tanya Habjouqa:

Hab­jouqa, one of the five female found­ing mem­bers of the col­lec­tive Rawiyas, shows us a very con­tem­po­rary life as it is lived in areas like the Gaza strip, Jerusalem, Syria, Egypt or Lebabon, and these lives include very famil­iar aspects: trans­sex­u­al­ity, a flour­ish­ing body build­ing cul­ture, impos­si­ble love sto­ries, heroin addicts in occu­pied land, and Egyp­tians work­ing in the tourist indus­try, sur­viv­ing solely on their sense of humor about the ridicu­lously cliché roles life tends to put on one. Click to read full text : http://www.beikey.net/mrs-deane/?p=5448

The National profiles Rawiya!

© Tamara Abdul Hadi

Rawiya is a new Middle East photography collective comprising some of my favorite photographers in the region. Though they will often be referred to by their sex before their occupations, these 'female photographers' are some of the best photographers in the Middle East.
Click to read more: http://www.thenational.ae/national-blog/national-view?articleID=1642

Dalia Khamissy Photographer-in-Residence at the 4th Crossing Point at Visa Pour l'Image 2010

Photo-Festivals invites photographer Dalia Khamissy as the 4th Crossing Point photographer-in-residence for Visa Pour l'Image 2010 (30th August to 6th September 2010).

Dalia Khamissy will undertake an intensive eight-day residency in Perpignan, during which she will share a flat with other photographers and make contact with numerous renowned practitioners in the field while enjoying the photo festival.

© Dalia Khamissy

Read more on the residency here

Tanya Habjouqa: From Gaza With Love

Tanya Habjouqa meets a brave young couple who fell in love under the most harrowing circumstances. They are committed to documenting the lives of their fellow Gazans and through their work, aim to show the human side of their war-torn region.

© Tanya Habjouqa

View full story in the National Magazine: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/from-gaza-with-love