A Girl and Her Room. By Rania Matar.
Published by Umbrage, 2012.

A Girl and Her Room

Reviewed by Karen Jenkins

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A Girl and Her Room
Photographs by Rania Matar. Essays by Susan Minot and Anne Tucker
Umbrage, 2012. Hardcover. 140 pp., color illustrations throughout, 9x12".

I like Rania Matar's new monograph A Girl and Her Room more and more each time I move through this bright series of portraits of teenage girls, at home in their most private and personalized spaces. The initial pull of these often chaotic images of girls and their stuff yields to a nuanced look at that space between child and adult, innocence and self-awareness. This series began close to home for Matar, who has photographed her own daughters from childhood to adolescence. Her observation of their shifting projections of self when in the company of other girls led her to start photographing their friends as well – other girls in their rooms. As this deeply personal project evolved, Matar's interest turned back to her own childhood in Lebanon and she began to also photograph teenage girls in the Middle East. There is no brash politicizing here; rather the images of the teens in Beruit and the West Bank are tied to their Western counterparts in a mash-up of cultural markings, from the hijab to Hannah Montana. They also foreground how a girl's room evolves over time – for the teens living in refugee camps those few treasured mementos of girlhood stand in higher relief against the backdrop of a borrowed space, devoid of the layers of a childhood spent somewhere else.

A Girl and Her Room, by Rania Matar. Published by Umbrage, 2012.

A Girl and Her Room, by Rania Matar. Published by Umbrage, 2012.

Essays by the novelist Susan Minot and curator Anne Tucker each describe the power of Matar's photographs to pull the adult woman back to her own adolescence, in a somewhat wistful journey of vivid detail. In these images I see a familiar echo of my own evolving curation of walls and shelves – layers of magazine pages, photographs and scribbled notes mounted in a daily projection of my best or most idealized self. Minot and Tucker also acknowledge the fundamental power of Matar's entry into these rooms that typically command adults to "keep out." The photographs are of course telling of how Matar saw these girls in their rooms, but how did they see her, this woman they let in…Flattering stranger? A (not their) mother figure? Role model? Or perhaps as part of that vast, nondescript group of "adults," Matar is able to exploit a certain invisibility that lends to these images a powerful sense of transparency and lack of overt mediation.

A Girl and Her Room, by Rania Matar. Published by Umbrage, 2012.

A Girl and Her Room, by Rania Matar. Published by Umbrage, 2012.

A few lines paired with each image give the girls' first names and home towns, but not ages; such figures seem far too concrete in the face of as all that Matar's photographs convey of the flux and uncertainty of this time. Yet most images are also paired with startlingly articulate statements on what it broadly is to be a teen, and specifically how it is to be Dima or Jess. Some statements point to the past, as if the girl's teenage years were far enough behind to afford her insight and nostalgia, however much of the photograph may say otherwise. I am not a mother, and do not know many teenagers, but did happen to find myself in a sea of them at a late night carnival while reviewing this book. And I am certain that Matar's insightful and generous depictions of the teenage girl's particular blend of bravado and vulnerability, enthusiasms and ennui colored my warm view of those I encountered and reminded me once again of the power of photography to shape my world view, even when I least expect it.—KAREN JENKINS

Read the photo-eye Blog interview with Rania Matar here

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KAREN JENKINS earned a Master's degree in Art History, specializing in the History of Photography from the University of Arizona. She has held curatorial positions at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, AZ and the Demuth Museum in Lancaster, PA. Most recently she helped to debut a new arts project, Art in the Open Philadelphia, that challenges contemporary artists to reimagine the tradition of creating works of art en plein air for the 21st century.

A Girl and Her Room

For the past few years, we've been proud to exhibit Rania Matar's A Girl and Her Room series on the Photographer's Showcase and are now thrilled to be carrying the book of this series published by Umbrage Editions. In A Girl and Her Room, Matar focuses her lens on teenage girls and their relationships to their bedrooms, spaces they control, spaces that are often an extension of their burgeoning identities. Photographing girls from the United States and Lebanon, Matar's images are a sympathetic depiction, showing both the confidence of the young women and but also the turbulence and uncertainty of the age. Matar approaches her subjects with kindness and a genuine interest in the lives of the girls she photographs. Whether shooting in affluent homes or refugee camps, a cluttered or spare room, Matar photographs the girls with a consistency of vision, working with them to create a photograph that looks to capture the real girl underneath the trappings and confusion of the age.

Rania Matar was kind enough to answer a few questions about this series and tell us about the designing of her new book. -- Sarah Bradley

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from A Girl and Her Room

photo-eye:     You started this series by photographing the friends of your teenage daughters, and then the teenage daughters of your friends. How did the series develop to focus on the girls in the context of their bedrooms?

Rania Matar:     I had always focused on women and girls in my work previously and when my first book was about to be published, my daughter was 14 and I was ready to start photographing closer to home. I became fascinated with my daughter and how she was transforming before my eyes. I decided to photograph her and her friends. I started photographing them in a group situation when her friends came over, when they were getting ready to go out, etc. and I quickly realized that I didn’t even recognize my own daughter and that those girls were all performing in front of each other and acting according to what they perceived as being “cool.” I decided to photograph each girl by herself and originally asked a couple of girls to choose where they would like to be photographed. After a couple of them chose the bedroom, I realized I had a project. It was one of those YES moments. As soon as the girl was in her own surrounding, I could almost see the “real” person. She was amongst her stuff, in her comfort zone; she could just be herself and she just fit in there, as if the room was an extension of her and she was an extension of her room. I quickly realized that I was on to something interesting and fun and the project kept expanding. Every single room and every single young woman was unique and as such every single photography experience was too, for me as the photographer.

from A Girl and Her Room

PE:     How did the girls react to your request to photograph them in their bedrooms? They all seem at ease, but I imagine that it could potentially be an awkward situation for them. What did you do to make sure the photograph felt like a good representation of them as an individual?

Matar's model Christilla standing next to a print of her photograph,
holding a copy of Matar's book

RM:     Most of the girls I approached understood the project and were excited to be part of it. This work could have been what it is, if they didn’t so gracefully and willingly cooperate with me. They let me in their most intimate and private place, opened their doors to me and let me photograph them. They trusted me and exposed themselves to me and as such to the viewers of this book and this work. I truly hope that I gave each one of those young women justice by representing them as truthfully as I could. I owed them that. I wanted to represent them without any judgment and allow them to be themselves. I think they felt that and as such allowed themselves to let go and be part of the process. I spend a long time with each one of them so she was comfortable with me and so I could learn to really see the person and her space, and their relationship to each other. The photography session was collaborative and intimate as a result.

I started this work with young women I knew either as daughters of my friends or friends of my daughter but I quickly moved in a different direction, choosing to photograph girls I had no prior relationship to. I felt that it was freeing for me and for the young woman when the relationship was that of a model and a photographer, with no prior expectation and preconception from either us. It was like starting with a clean slate and it was up to me discover the young woman and up to her to open up. The relationship of a girl to her mother is often complicated and I felt that it was important here that I was perceived as the photographer and not the mother.

However, I am a mother and this is why I wanted to represent the girls as truthfully as I could and with all the respect they deserved. My daughter was one of those girls! In some way, they taught me to be much more tolerant as a mother to my own teens at home.

from A Girl and Her Room

PE:     Based on the essays in the book as well as my personal reaction to this series, these images seem to bring out memories of adolescence in adult women. Is this a common response? Do you get similar reactions from men or have you found that they view the series differently?

RM:     This has been a pretty common response among adult women; it’s true. It did this to me as well in some strange way, which is why I decided to include girls from Lebanon as well. I ended up including the 2 cultures that saw me as a teenage girl and a young twenty year old. This is how this work became personal to me. When I photograph the girls, almost in all instances, I forget that I am not one of them, as if I am instantly thrown back in time. Then I pass a mirror and it is a call back to reality for me.

It seems that most women relate to this work, either because they were or still are teenagers themselves or because they have daughters, but it definitely seems to strike a chord. I didn’t quite anticipate this but in some ways, I find this reaction touching and it validates this work for me. I was very moved by both essays in the book and am so grateful that both Anne Tucker and Susan Minot opened up in that manner and wrote such a personal almost unguarded essays. If my work brought this up and stirred those feelings in them, then I am extremely humbled and gratified at the same time.

I found that men look at this work somewhat differently. I think many feel that it is a little voyeuristic and many make comments such as “boys don’t have the same relationship to their rooms” or “a man could not have taken those images.” I think both comments are valid and probably true. For the most part, I found that men were fascinated by the images, the girls and their spaces but there seems to be a simultaneous guarded mixture of discomfort, awe and curiousness toward the images.

from A Girl and Her Room

PE:     I'm interested in how the book came together. Some of the image pairings are striking -- particularly when a photograph of a well-off American teen is shown next to a girl living in a refugee camp. There are a number of interesting elements including the sequencing, the text from some of the girls and the several pages of collaged images. Did you collaborate with a book designer?

RM:     I worked very closely with my book designer, Unha Kim. It was a wonderful collaboration and I felt that she understood the work and the direction I wanted the book to take quite well. I used to be an architect myself before becoming a photographer and design is very important to me. It was important to me to team up with a designer whom I would work with well, and Nan Richardson, my publisher found the great person for me to work with. I wanted the book to be a beautiful art book, but also to be fun, to be a book about teenagers but also a book for teenagers. The design had to express all of those elements for me. I felt that the subject of the book itself almost demanded that it have an aspect of fun to it, a sense of freedom from rigidity and structure.

Rania Matar

Pairing was important. I wanted to include the photos from both cultures but without them reading like a comparison or without a specific and obvious rhythm. The pairing and the sequencing were more visual than anything. The text from the girls was important to include in some instances but not all, so we included the quotes that were most special and unique. We decided to make them small and light to make sure text didn’t compete with the imagery.

Lastly, I wanted to make sure every girl in the book was included. We originally started with a contact sheet idea and then Unha developed it to this real fun collage that is reminiscent of the walls in some of the bedrooms. Putting those images together like a puzzle and keeping track of all the girls was probably one the most complicated part of the design.

The whole design process was really teamwork at its best and I am grateful to Unha for being on the same page as me and to Nan for finding me the right person!

Purchase a singed copy of A Girl and Her Room here
See Rania Matar's work on the Photographer's Showcase here

The Photographer's Showcase is please to announce a new portfolio for Rania Matar L'Enfant-Femme

Youmna 11, Beirut Lebanon from L'Enfant-Femme -- Rania Matar

Matar’s new body of work continues her investigation into the psyche of the teenage girl, this time focusing on even younger women, girls on the cusp between childhood and their teenage years. Photographing young women from the United States and Matar’s native Lebanon, the images depict girls of varying backgrounds -- from privileged Boston homes to the residents of Lebanese refugee camps -- yet the locations are inconsequential. As the images pass before one’s eyes they become harder to place geographically, and prove the universality of life at this juncture -- what stands out are the similarities between the girls. Some are vulnerable, others defiant, yet all portray the uniqueness of their age, the in between years, the age of transition from child to young adult.

Ayah 9, Beirut Lebanon, Molly, Brookline MA, and Juliette 10, Arlington MA from L'Enfant-Femme -- Rania Matar

Life is full of transitions, but perhaps at no other time in a person's life is the rapid mental progression so linked to their changing physicality. The anger and pleasure, confusion and discomfort, awkwardness and maturity of this age are simultaneously visible. Matar approaches her subjects with one instruction — don’t smile. From there, the girl is left to pose and arrange herself as she will, leaving her to present herself to the camera in a way of her choosing. This simple direction yields impressive results and we witness these girls struggle to present themselves, attempting to bridge the gap between childhood and the start of sexual maturity. It is easy to see both the past and future in these images — the girls become remarkably readable in poses that are intentional but nevertheless telling -- both the child they are growing out of and the coming adult are visible, coexisting in the frame.

Ellice, Jamaica Plain, MA 2010 from A Girl and Her Room-- Rania Matar

photo-eye is also releasing a new edit of Matar’s A Girl and Her Room portfolio, which is soon to be published in a book from Umbrage Editions. In this series, Matar established herself as a keen and sympathetic observer of young women, producing images that depict girls at an age of transition into adulthood in the one space they control themselves. I remember the importance of my bedroom at that age — and even my dorm room in college. There were totems of my self expression that made it into every space, and these rooms were as much a free expression of my personhood — if not at times more so — than my style and demeanor. They are a way to begin the exploration of self-expression, a way to fall into a personal identity of adulthood. -- Sarah Bradley 

See Rania Matar's L'Enfant-Femme and A Girl and Her Room portfolios here

A Girl and Her Room from Umbrage Editions is due in May of this year. Both signed and unsigned copies are available for pre-order here.

For more information on Matar's work, please contact photo-eye Gallery Associate Director Anne Kelly by email or by calling the gallery at (505) 988-5152 x202