Illumination
Cultural and religious barriers have created an environment of repression towards public and political discourse concerning sexual matters in some parts of the globe. Because of this, topics such as homosexuality and transsexuality are rarely addressed publicly, and are seldom discussed in private circles, especially in Islamic cultures. Illumination brings visibility to queer Muslims and acknowledges the freedom of human sexuality, faith in Islam and self‐reflection.
The main focus of this work is how individuals incorporate their sexual identity with their Muslim identity. The root lies on how they reconcile with Islam either socially, politically, historically, religiously, spiritually or culturally. Illumination challenges the Muslim community by introducing sexual diversity and breaking the gender programming, as it challenged the western community.
The series was created in Toronto, Canada, and is made up of real volunteers from different race, ethnicity, class, gender, age and sexual orientation. Each individual poses with the material of their choosing as a way of voicing their personal stories regarding their sexuality.
Identities and sexualities are never fixed or stable; they are continued as a social struggle around the globe. Cultural taboos towards sexual identity and sexual orientation and the logic around gender, have led to human rights violations. This work not only explores the diverse sexualities in our society, but it also breaks the stereotypes in Muslim communities. Sexuality remains a stigmatized topic of discussion and everyone must be enlightened for acceptance of sexual diversity.
Yalda Pashai
Yalda Pashai born in Iran, moved to Canada early in her adolescence for further education, where she found her passion in photography. She has a constant desire for knowledge and understanding in photojournalism and the creative arts. Yalda graduated with a BFA in Photography Studies from Ryerson University in Toronto. Fluent in English, Farsi, Azeri and Turkish, Yalda lived in different countries as a child where she understood the importance of culture and the effects of language barriers. This has greatly influenced her work , using photography as a powerful tool to tell the story of others.
