Female photographers unite at Alliance Francaise in Dubai

Teenagers on the car. Neus Sola

There is still time to check out the exhibition of winners from the International Women Photographers Association annual competition. The exhibition is on at the Alliance Francaise and shows 11 photographers who were selected from 785 applications from 84 countries.

Interestingly, the winner, Farah Salem is a Kuwaiti national who lives in and works in Chicago. She was awarded for her series titled Cornered, where she has photographed herself inside a box, a clear metaphor for the restrictions we place upon ourselves or that society puts upon us.

In her artistic statement Salem writes: “It explores the idea of how the whole of existence is truly floating in a beautiful nowhere, an infinite space. But the human mind creates limitations that end up manifesting into fears restricting one to break free and simply be. If only one could realise that outside of the box there is nothing, and it’s a beautiful nothing to be enjoyed.”

Other notable shortlisted entries include Neus Solà, from Barcelona whose work is a documentary photography project following poor, young gypsy girls of the suburb of La Cité of Perpignan in France. She is particularly interested in their transition to adulthood and there are some striking images.

Also, Anne Ackermann, a German photographer living in Kampala, Uganda who used her photography to reveal the lives of female Somali refugees living in exile and the quest for an authentic, meaningful existence in a transitional space.

The International Women Photographers Award is a photography award for women organised by Antidote art and design in collaboration with the International Women Photographers Association, MyArtSpy and Alliance Française, Dubai. IWPA’s goal is to provide a platform for women photographers to exhibit their work to a wide and diverse audience. Established in 2001, by Séverine Blanchet, the association helps women photographers to gain global recognition and to boost their careers creatively and professionally. IWPA invites all women photographers, professionals or amateurs, regardless of nationality, to participate and enter the yearly award.

* International Women Photographers Award Exhibition is open until April 3 at La Galerie, Alliance Francaise, Dubai