The images in this story come from a deeply personal place. As he grew up in a Somali household, he was raised Muslim in Europe. Growing in an environment that increasingly became hostile to his faith, he struggled to reconcile both realities. As his religion was incessantly vilified by the mainstream media, it influenced the perception of Muslims all throughout Europe. As violence against the Muslim communities grew, France brought to law a ban against the wearing of the burqa. This became a true turning point for Rami, who decided to take matters in his own hands by re-introducing an image that had been perverted by the media. His mother became his Muse and source of inspiration; prompting him to create a series of portraits that subvert the media’s image of the black veiled woman. This is done by showing the different sides and layers of the women underneath the Burqa. To shape his images, he worked with a variety of traditional Somali fabrics to balance the “elegant yet quirky nature” of his mother, while still minding the sensitivity of this social matter.
