NEW YORK – In an effort to improve the representation of Muslim women in online media and advertising, the editor of popular online platform MuslimGirl.com has teamed up with Getty Images to launch a new series of photos showcasing the diversity of Muslim women.
“When we’re able to represent Muslim women from all these diverse lifestyles, these diverse backgrounds, it really is able to humanize us — as much as I hate to use that language,” Amani Al-Khatahtbeh told Mashable.com on Wednesday, March 8.
“But that’s really the level we’re at right now. That’s the power of imagery at this moment for underrepresented communities like ours.”
The idea first came to Al-Khatahtbeh in an effort to correct misrepresnation of the Muslim women image in media.
The editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl used to ask audience in public speeches to do an image search of Muslim women.
The usual result was long pages of one-dimensional stock photos showing Muslim women behind black veil.
“It just occurred to me that I shouldn’t have to use that example anymore,” Al-Khatahtbeh said.
The new partnership, announced on the International Women’s Day, would include launching a new series of creative images and stock photos showing a range of modern Muslim women being their true, authentic selves.
The collection of images, for women in hijab or no, and women at work or exercising, shows a diverse array of Muslim women in everyday scenarios.
Important Partnership
Through the partnership, MuslimGirl acts as a contributor to Getty Images, and the photos are available for commercial use.
Al-Khatahtbeh chose the Muslim models, photographer Jenna Masoud, and the scenes, while Getty provided guidance about what types of images could be most impactful.
“We both agreed on the kinds of images that we wanted to create,” said Claudia Marks, senior art director at Getty Images.
“I just showed up as a consultant, as I do with a lot of my contributors, just to kind of help guide the kinds of images that might be saleable, that would work in the collection, and that would also be powerful imagery to change attitudes and change perceptions of Muslim girls and show them in a positive light.”
Coming in a difficult time for American Muslims, Al-Khatahtbeh depends on those photos to improve Muslim women image in media and online.
“Right now, it just seems like we’re in a moment where there’s a lot of fear going on, of people who might not look like us, who might be from different walks of life than us,” Al-Khatahtbeh said.
“I think that the visual medium is so powerful in being able to bring people together in that way.”
“That kind of visibility really does contribute to our feelings of belonging and to our feelings of acceptance,” she said.
“And that’s why I think it’s so important that we’re doing this collection, especially in this sociopolitical climate. I think it just calls for us to respond in a very positive way, and that’s what this does.”