Jodie Bateman

Jodie Bateman, United Kingdom

Muslim Women Should Not Stand Out

 

Muslim Women Should Not Stand Out is a series of portraits as a reaction to a point in Jodie’s life in 2019 after converting to Islam in 2017. She started to learn a lot more about her religion and being told how to dress and behave as a Muslim woman, at a time when she had just migrated from London to a rural town, Godalming in Surrey. Jodie was in London for 4 years, and Godalming was not diverse in comparison. It was very isolating and lonely, as there is no Muslim community there and when going out she was almost always the only person in a hijab. Jodie migrated for her son to give him a better chance in life for a good upbringing in a safer area. 

 

Jodie shot in a location in which the woman in the images is isolated, she seems to blend into her surroundings as well as stand out as a way to interpret visually what she is trying to say, which is important to her as she feels it is showing the public a story of a conversion to a religion which is very misunderstood.

 

Jodie is a fine-art photographer who was born and raised in South London. Her first interest was in the way that photography can convey social messages and how she could use the medium to express personal feelings. Since converting to Islam in 2017, Jodie’s work started to shift and her interest now is in investigating and questioning the stereotypes associated with being a Muslim living in Western society. 

 

www.jodiembateman.com