By: huffingtonpost.com
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
In a gorgeous series titled “Converts,” photographer Claire Beckett captures portraits of the American men and women who have chosen to convert to Islam. Her stunning photos reveal the faces of these new Muslims in the United States, individuals who were not born into the religion but have found the faith later in life.
“The project stems from ideas that have interested me in my work for years,” Becket explains on her website. “What does it mean to be an American? Who are we as a people, and how do we define ourselves? How do we understand our country in relation to other nations and cultures? In a society that, however falsely, often constructs ‘American’ and ‘Muslim’ as diametrical opposites, what is the experience of people who traversed this imagined line?”
In her brightly lit, saturated snapshots, Beckett focuses on perception and identity, exploring not only the subjects’ physical image as “converts” but also the viewers’ understanding of religious culture in the U.S.
It’s not the first time Beckett has investigated the collision of historic and contemporary imagery in America. Her previous project, “Simulating Iraq,” highlighted the world of American military training camps preparing soldiers for deployment; bases that were made to look like Iraq and Afghanistan through the use of costumes, props and role-playing individuals.
For other samples of the portraits please see the original article.
