Sunday 2 September 2012

A girl and her room - Photographes

It´s been a while since i posted something here. And the reason is that the last twoo days i spend most of my time sitting in doctors offices or waiting in hospital lounges because of a broken arm. But today i have some time to catch up. At a chirurgical praxis i ´ve read an interesting article about photographer Rania Matar and her project "A Girl an her room". Some titles are self explaining and in her work this is what you see. Teenagers rooms in the USA and Lebanon, mostly the eastcost. Interesstingly the girls featured are mostly upper class or middle class and honestly there are no overweight teens but in general i loved the mirrored views of the girls personality which is always at some point refelcted in her personal room. That reminds me of my own teenage room. Having only a little space of my own i was keen to express my personal style as much as possible, with a rather qustionable amount of colours and pictures, many postcards and cushions applied but thats the process of finding the right turn in home decoration. Knowadasy i love reduced decoration and empty wals in soft colours like a creamy yellow. To see the whole portfolio you can visit Rania Matars site at http://www.raniamatar.com/portfolio/girls/girl-room.php#girl-room/1-01.jpg.

http://www.raniamatar.com/portfolio/girls/girl-room/1-06.jpg
Her explanation of her thoughts towards her project can be found there too but here is a little part of it: 
"As a mother of a teenage daughter I watch her passage from girlhood into adulthood, fascinated with the transformation taking place, the adult personality shaping up and a self-consciousness now replacing the carefree world she had known and lived in so far. I started photographing her and her girlfriends, and quickly realized that they were very aware of each other's presence, and that their being in a group affected very much whom they were portraying to the world. From there, emerged the idea of photographing each girl alone in her personal space.
I spend time with each girl, so she is comfortable with me and eventually the photography session becomes a beautiful and intimate collaboration. I was discovering a person on the cusp on becoming an adult, but desperately holding on to the child she barely outgrew. Posters of rock stars, political leaders or top models were displayed above a bed covered with stuffed animals; mirrors were an important part of the room, a reflection of the girls' image to the world; personal objects, photos, clothes everywhere, chaotic jumbles of pink and black make-up and just stuff, seemed to give a sense of security and warmth to the room like a womb within the outside world.
I initially started this work focusing on teenage girls in the United States and eventually expanded the project to include girls from the two worlds I am most familiar with, the two worlds I experienced myself as a teen and a young twenty year old: the United States and the Middle East".

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