She captured the historic local council elections in Saudi Arabia in 2015, where for the first time, women were allowed to participate in the vote. Her photos were featured by National Geographic . The pictures she had captured, while documenting the aftermath of the historic approval of driving rights for women in Saudi Arabia, had gone viral too. Coincidentally, she had photographed the same women arrested for driving a long time ago.
‘Approval’ and Tasneem Alsultan seem to have a strong connection. She somehow seems to be ‘at the right place at the right time’ as she likes pointing out, but there is more to her than being at the right place. She has battled ‘approval’ all her life, in a movie-story way. Single parent, and divorced after a 10-year, unhappy marriage, Tasneem is singly focused to get her word across to other women (adding Saudi Arabia here, would be doing her cause an injustice) that it’s okay to be a single parent, okay to be divorced, okay to be without ‘a male guardian’, okay to be the one that doesn’t fit in. This she does without being insouciant about her culture – ‘showing respect for culture is a good thing’, she says, a reason why she covers her hair while visiting some rural areas in Saudi. She likes calling herself ‘motherly’ – having been born and brought up in the USA, Tasneem has taken upon herself the role of being a mediator, educating the outside world about Saudi, not letting them get away with unfair criticism, while explaining the western world to the Saudis.
Tasneem Alsultan
Tasneem fell in love with photography at nine, clicking away pictures with a pharmacy store-camera, but wasn’t allowed to pursue a degree in photography; her mom and dad, professors in Arabic and Business Administration respectively, were sceptical of the security a photographer’s life would offer.
But, after a rough phase, it was photography that helped Tasneem find an outlet, and while she doesn’t like sharing intimate details of her life, she started using the camera to highlight, showcase and propagate the lives of Saudi women, through the ebbs and flows of their life. Her sensitive eye caught the attention of the right people and her Instagram page, that currently has 136k followers brought her accolades as she was one of the recipients of the Instagram/Getty Images inaugural grant in 2015, kickstarting her meteoric rise to fame. The photos they had picked were what she had considered scraps of her mundane life – her kid doing things, her father sipping tea reading a newspaper, etc. She realised what was mundane for her, was also what was so relatable, as she discovered a medium that can help her reach out to others similar to her.
Tasneem, a highly popular wedding photographer, also went on to win first place in Contemporary Issues ‘Professional’ at the Sony World Photography Awards with her album ‘Saudi Tales of Love’, the internationally renowned project where she tries to use her imagination and experiences to interweave the idea of marriage and the emotions of women through it, whilst using the backdrop of how women have gotten a rather raw deal from the local traditions. The documentary project tried to conjure the story of women who managed to overcome social hurdles.
Tasneem, who is creative with her ideas, believes good photography is about making the right decisions during precious moments, and finding the right angles. Being from the generation that was the first to use the power of internet, she is working on a project called ‘Cyber Lords of Arabia’, trying to showcase young men and women who have found their freedom of expression and thereby, fame, by tapping the potential of social media – musicians, people fired for being outspoken, activists against authoritarianism who were arrested, etc.
Young girls ride a scooter around their neighbourhood
Tasneem, one of the 12 young photographers selected for the prestigious Joop Swart Masterclass and one of Photo District News’ 30 top emerging photographers, is a victim of casual sexism herself, and admittedly uses the condescending sexism to her advantage, trying to bustle through armies of big photographers with big lenses to get the best possible shot at historic events. She does advise men to talk about sexism and says, ‘if every man asks the women around him how he could do better, sexism would be an issue of the past.’
A self-confessed fan of Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers’ Tasneem absorbs plenty from her variegated experiences at photo festivals around the world, like ‘Chobimala’ in Dhaka, where she received a lot of help and guidance from James Estrin, the co-editor of the Lens Section, TheNew York Times .
A recipient of the Magnum Foundation grant, Tasneem is using her camera (and she is not a big fan of equipment and gear, most components of her 1000-dollar kit lying unused) to narrate stories about the government, society, and women. She is about to embark on another journey soon, trying to showcase the nooks and corners of the country of her origin.
Tasneem calls herself a ‘third culture kid’, and with her sparkle, charm, and a certain mesmerising presence and way of connecting to her audiences as a brilliant and witty speaker definitely has the air, aura and charisma of a woman who will change the world. For the better!
