Object number2025.23

It's Not Easy Being Seen 7

Date2016

Artist Farah Al Qasimi (Emirati, born 1991)

CultureEmirati, American

MediumArchival inkjet print

EditionArtist's proof 1 of an edition of 5, plus 2 artist's proofs

DimensionsIncoming Dimensions: 48 3/8 x 36 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (122.9 x 92.4 x 2.9 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, Advisory Council for Photography

On View

Not on view

Period21st c

Classification(s)

Photograph

Vassar Exhibitions

My Brain Finally Broke: Between Truth and Fiction

Label TextOften thwarting expectations of figurative and portrait photography, contemporary Emirati artist Farah Al Qasimi challenges viewers to consider their own preconceptions of reality, representation, and agency. Al Qasimi approaches her work with a keen awareness of the politics and stakes of visibility in today’s world, including the reality that pictures of people posted online are far more likely to attract engagement, making them instant commodities for generative AI. As an immigrant from the Gulf Arab states to the US, she is also interested in how the Western idea of being seen as a form of agency is sometimes in tension with cultural norms of the United Arab Emirates, where a higher value is placed on protecting one’s identity from the camera. In her series It’s Not Easy Being Seen, Al Qasimi carefully stages scenes in which women’s identity—and even skin color—is obscured by a bright, green fabric known as a morphsuit, which refers to the use of green screen technology to conceal a person’s features. The green screen and morphsuit invite the viewer to project their own perceptions onto the subject—a reminder that any representation of a person is as “real” as the plethora of fake flowers surrounding Al Qasimi’s false subject.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu