Abstract

My research project documented in this article explores the visual representation of ten Saudi women living in Saudi Arabia Photography is used as a medium and a critical tool to examine and reframe the representations of Saudi women in a collaborative process The aims of the project are to understand the place of photography in Saudi women s experience and self-perception to analyse their response to its creative potential as a tool of self-presentation to reveal the full potential of creative collaborative photography in research and to explore the complexity and diversity of Saudi women s identities My research will nuance and contradict the stereotypes about Saudi women depicted as either victims of Islam or the state covered in black veils or wealthy women enjoying the luxuries of oil wealth and will illustrate the diversity and complexity of Saudi women who range from extreme religious fundamentalists to young modern liberal feminists Through the women involved the project introduces a complex and dynamic picture of Saudi society today