Esse Quam up and running

We have more portraits on the new site. Be sure to check it out at http://www.muslimselfportrait.info

Check out the new Website!

At long last we can begin sharing the wonderful portraits and stories from Muslim North Carolinians. Take peak at their images in this you tube, then go to http://www.muslimselfportrait.info and enjoy their images, essays, and audio. (More of the latter to come.)

I am still traveling the state and can help a few more participants. Let me know if you are interested.

Why this project is necessary

I stayed up until 2 AM last night putting the finishing touches on a promotional video for this project. This morning I opened the paper and found a story that is even more effective. It is on Yusra Alaqrah, a sister who lives in Greensboro and has had eggs thrown at her home since 2005. Ever smelled a rotten egg? It stinks. Just like the attitude that propelled it. Read her complete story at http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/05/09/article/the_ugly_side_of_our_city

I will be inviting her to join this project.

Interesting Poll

Check out this informative poll just out on Muslim Americans.

New Website in works

I am working with UNC to begin rolling out images for this project on a new website. Once that is up I will begin putting together the book and exhibition. I will be working intensely on this project in May and June of this year. Muslim-Americans can still participate so be sure to contact me if you are interested.

Google Muslim Self Portrait

Google "Muslim self portrait" and you will find very little. The exception is the excellent work of photographer Layla-Eve. Check out her flicker gallery.

Great Idea

Here's a call for movies that address Muslim stereotypes with some big prize money.

What? Muslims and laughter?

Last night at an art opening I mentioned I was going to a Muslim Comedy night. A bystander commented that those things did not go together. There you have it, another stereotype layed bare. Hope I can be allowed to photograph he evening.

One Slice of Kindness

Today, I spent the afternoon talking to a Pizza Parlor owner in the Triad who is Muslim. We spent several hours talking about the big issues facing the Muslim world and American culture. After covering all the topics and a great bit of learning on my part, I asked the owner what about himself did he care to share for this project. In giving examples, I mentioned community service, to which he responded "Oh, I give away free meals to the homeless all the time." This stopped me in my tracks. Soon I learned that he gave away probably 10 meals on average per day, every day of the year. "I am part of this community" he said, "my faith pushes me to do this." Before I left a single man came in tired and hot and sat in a corner booth. A nod from the owner sent an employee over with the pizza and drink I had just shot to document this practice. It was set in front of the homeless man without a tab but with a slice of human kindness. Watch for this simple but profound "self portrait."

Still Time!

There is still time to participate in this project. I am finishing up working full time on this project this summer but will be collaborating on Fridays and weekends with participants throughout the fall. If you want to participate be sure to email using the reply form at the bottom of the page.

Deep Roots and 100 names for God.

Lord's Prayer, written in Arabic by Omar Said.


The Muslim community has deep roots in North Carolina.

Yesterday, I traveled to the Davidson College Library in Davidson, North Carolina to see the Arabic Bible of Omar Said. Omar lived in the 1700's and was a learned man who traded in fabric in Africa. After starting a family and in his 30's, Omar was captured and sold into slavery and imported to Charleston, SC in the last years of the US slave trade. He escaped an abusive master and was found while praying in a church near Fayetteville, North Carolina. After writing petitions for help on his cell walls, and dumbfounding the Fayetteville community of slave owners with his demeanor and refined manners, he was taken by the Owens brothers (one would become a North Carolina Governor ) to their plantation down the Cape Fear River. There he became a valued house servant, eventually being given the keys to the estate, his own house, horse, and buggy. Later in life he wrote his own short autobiography, the Christian Lord's Prayer (shown above ), and well as eleven other surviving documents. A practicing Muslim all his life, Omar absorbed the Christian faith of his owners and navigated with dignity the tricky social/religious/political/racial landscape of the Old South. Omar turned down offers to be returned to Africa, and lived to see freedom before his death at 94.

I was most struck by how carefully he sewed layer upon layer onto the dust jacket of his Bible. As I looked at it I was reminded of his selling fabric in Africa and wondered if he found pleasure in the designs and colors of each layer. To see the stitching made by his own hands was awe inspiring. This dust jacket will be featured in this project.

I have read that the "drawings" at the bottom of the above document represent the 100th name of God.

All that wander are not lost......

I took this photo after spending the day working on this project in Rocky Mount, NC.

From Rocky Mount to Greensboro to Fayetteville, I am traveling, meeting, and collaborating with Muslims for this project. I have sat for hours listening to the hardships and tragedies of a Palestinian born Muslim who is working hard to support and educate her children while dreaming of an education for herself. I am collaborating with a Muslim family who wishes to speak up for co-existence and justice. I am searching out Muslims serving in our military, serving in our state government, Shia Muslims, and Nation of Islam members. I am talking to professionals worried about the effect their participation might have on their work, I am learning of the deep worry and growing anger over Palestine, I am hearing time and again of cases of discrimination against Muslims at work, in public, and in schools. Soon, I will hold in my hand and photograph a holy book owned by one of the state's first Muslims- a slave who lived in the 1700's. What a journey of discovery. I cannot wait to share it the images and words of all these participants. Stay tuned!

Who Hijacked my Religion?

"Baba Ali" produced this well made video on Muslim stereotypes in the media. I think it gives support to the goals of this project. Check out his media production company at http://www.ummahfilms.com

Amazing Week, Amazing Stories

I have a week full of interviews and meeting with Muslims from across the state. I have heard stories that need telling from communities in Greensboro, Eden, Rocky Mount, and Statesville. The enthusiasm for this project has helped fuel my efforts (literally -I wish) across many hours on the road. Today, three very wonderful and unique participants all told me the problem was not what to say in their works but that they had so much they wanted to say- where to start was the problem. I hope over the coming days they will focus in on what is most important to share. I look forward to facilitating their vision.

Stay tuned for some great images and powerful stories.

Visual Memory

What we see stays with us. I was reminded of this yesterday when I was working with a new participant on this project. An artist, he met me in an ice cream shop in Greensboro to discuss his participation. After he shared his story of struggle living in the United States as a Muslim Immigrant, he invited me to come to his condo and look at his past work. There I came across a landscape he had painted of a moose with mountains in the background and flowers in the foreground. I remembered then that I had curated a group show nearly 8 years earlier in which that work had been included.

As an visual artist, maybe I am over sensitive to what I see, but I believe most others are too. That is why I think this project will have such an impact.

The Sound of Reason

I met with Ku and Francis from the Sound of Reason yesterday at their concert at NC State Univeristy. We had a moment to talk after their performance. They are smart, sincere guys that are trying to make a positive difference. They gave me a CD and Ku gave me his Koran. I gave him a copy of my book "Give Me Eyes". They agreed to help out with this project. Thanks Ku and Francis. Check out their My Space Page.

Contemporary Art Show in Afghanistan

Check out this BBC News story on a contemporary Art Exhibition in Afghanistan

Self-Altered Photographs by Muslims and others

by Wendy Ewald

Wendy Ewald has worked for years to help others express their self-identity visually. Here are some examples of her collaborative work. They are photographs that have been altered using sharpie-type markers. I include them here as inspiration for participants in this project.

Two Americas

Someone today shared this You Tube post with me. It is a set up by ABC Prime Time to see how everyday Americans would react to discrimination leveled at outwardly dressed Muslims in a public place. This is a moving, disturbing video.