Faculty of Art

Photography

Fatma Juma

Mold Me, Change Me

Mold Me, Change Me focuses on the social, cultural, and religious influences that try to mold my own sexuality and physical appearance into a form that is not representative of who I am as a person. Through photography, my work explores the intense tension between my self-identity and the expectations others place on me. The use of self-portraiture becomes the means by which my work visually represents the conflict I face day in and day out, allowing the body to serve as both the subject of the photograph and a representation of the influences placed upon it. My work seeks to visually convey the emotional weight of conforming and the internal struggles that arise when self-identity clashes with social, cultural, and religious expectations.My work is based on the concept that, in many cases, identity is not something that a person is able to freely construct or shape, as they are often forced into a certain mold or type of identity by cultural, religious, and social influences. These influences have dictated things such as sexuality, gender, and appearance, and have made me feel as though I’m being forced into these so-called “proper” roles. In my own photography and work, I want to explore the concept of being molded or reshaped as a means of communicating what it is like to be forced into a certain identity that doesn’t feel authentic or like the real you. This is my experience of being gay and Muslim and coming from a family and a world where I am not accepted, and how all these experiences shaped the person I am today.