Being Muslim in America

Being Muslim in America is a photojounalistic project where I intend to interview a range of age groups on their experiences as a muslim in a society that is often seen as actively hostile towards them. Each interview will be coupled with one or more portraits, capturing the personality and emotions of the subject. The questions will be both general, applying to all participants, and focused, directed and formulated for the unique perspectives of specific subjects. Each interview will be a recorded conversation with no previous preparation and then transcribed to text. Only quotes particularly striking and important to the overall theme will be selected and placed under each image. Each group interviewed will provide a different perspective on the muslim experience, whether that be innocence, experience, or perspective.

I think photojournalism is a particular important form of photography in society because it uses visuals to aid in understanding a person’s emotions and feelings. Being able to see the events unfolding allows the targeted audience to properly sympathize with the subject. Using photos to describe the experience of people gives a certain depth of understanding that is impossible with text alone.

 

Artist Inspiration

Brandon Stanton created a photoblog called Humans of New York in which he captures people’s emotions and stories through a portrait along with a short piece of writing describing an event they’ve gone through.