Yumna Al-Arashi – Body as Resistance

Career

Yumna Al-Arashi began her career as a self-taught documentary photographer making images for National Geographic, The New York Times and The Guardian. However, she found herself conflicted about the power of image-makers like herself, who were in a position to present their subjects – whether intentionally or unintentionally – in a one-sided way. ‘Photography carries a kind of violence within it that’s revealed in the words we use for it, words like “capturing”, shooting”, and “taking”,’ she says. As a result her work became more political and conceptual.

Resilience

Al-Arashi cherishes the women in her photographs: she depicts them as strong and resilient and emphasises their beauty. She does not hide behind the camera, but displays herself, playful and defiant, in conceptual self-portraits. In doing so she short-circuits the power dynamic between photographer and subject and asserts that her body is a key component of the political conversation she seeks to cultivate.

Body

A recurring theme in Yumna Al-Arashi’s work is the female body. One of her key inspirations is the text ‘Uses of the Erotic. Erotic as Power’ (1978) by Audre Lorde, in which Lorde describes the erotic as a source of life energy, a power that – just as the mythological Eros was born from Chaos – stands for intuition, creativity and harmony. However, warns Lorde, in women this vitality is systematically oppressed. Al-Arashi similarly combats the societal urge to control the female body: ‘It is told how to move, how loud or quiet it must be and how it should be dressed. […] To choose how I look becomes my greatest rebellion; to push myself again and again through the motions of shame — a sport I have mastered — this is my greatest political act.’