India is a rare society that seems to welcome the intrusion of privacy that a camera lens brings. But photographing Muslim women in traditional dress had always felt different to me- off limits.
Mesmerizing in appearance, for years I interpreted their traditional dress as taboo territory. A western woman in India photographing a woman in a hijab or niqab seemed disrespectful and even felt intimidating at times.
Yet, in the flooded sea of images that describes any street in India, my eye would always instinctively be drawn there. Mysterious figures in flowing black, women wrapped in white revealing eyes that spoke to the sense of the forbidden, captivated me.
In 2018, though, the axis appeared to shift. I was suddenly seeing far more Muslim women in traditional dress, a greater number being younger women walking with strength and pride and ease throughout Rajasthan.
Their palpable enthusiasm and welcoming openness was enabling and I began to capture images I had so often longed to take. For the first time, I felt embraced and even welcomed by these powerful women of all ages.
The precise clothing that for Muslim women was culturally meant to instill modesty had become their banner. So startling in it’s dramatic affect , this very revealing concealment appears to proudly declare their identity at this time in history when their dress is the subject of great controversy in many other countries around the world.