[wvns] Meet 'Unseen America'

Charissa Dawn Scott, 19, is one of five Muslim students featured at the J. Wayne Reitz Union for their work in a national photo project.

Meet 'Unseen America'
By Lashonda Stinson Curry
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090302/articles/903021005

The faces of Muslims are framed in an art exhibition at Reitz Union that offers a window into their lives and culture.

"Unseen America" is a national photography project originally started in New York to show the lives of immigrant workers. Then the project expanded to include people and groups misrepresented, ignored or stereotyped by mass society. The first Unseen America project in Gainesville was 2004's "Women in Transition," which chronicled the lives of homeless women in the city.

As part of this year's project, the students participated in a 10-week class. They received basic photography training and wrote the explanatory text panels for each photo. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts funded the project.

Liz Gottlieb, coordinator of the Unseen America project in Gainesville, was inspired to choose Muslim life as the topic after talk of President Barack Obama being a Muslim became a hot campaign issue.

"People took being called a Muslim as an insult ... and that's a lot of what I'm trying to turn around with this, that being Muslim is no different than being just another human being."

Musba was born in India and thinks the project was a "wonderful opportunity for me to portray my misunderstood religion and people to everyone." The 24-year-old is a graduate student studying electrical engineering. In his series of photos, he snapped the president of the Islam on Campus organization praying and taking a walk. Another striking photo features his cousin's wedding in Detroit. A colorfully beaded, ruby red sari is draped around her joyful face. She is holding a colorful bouquet with her hand, covered in traditional henna painting.

Waseem, a 21-year-old neurobiological sciences student, graduates this semester and is pre-med bound. As an American Pakistani, she chose identity as the theme of her photos, which included portraits of herself and her friends.

Ahmad recently graduated with a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition. This past summer he visited his family in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years. His photos include sweet and happy family moments taken in Pakistan and his hometown of Panama City.

Mohamed, 28, also showed Muslim family and culture. The husband and soon-to-be father has lived in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, and Cairo, Egypt. In one photo, there's a group of Muslim men hanging out at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens during the celebration of Eid, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

"I wanted to take pictures that when people see them they see a different point of view for Muslim life that they would not normally see in the mainstream media," said Mohamed, who is receiving his doctorate in pharmacy.

Scott, 19, is a converted Muslim. She grew up in a "deep South Mississippi family" and was raised Southern Baptist. At 17, she took Islam as her religion. Two captivating close-up portraits of Scott's face are the heart of her pieces. With her wide eyes, she stares intensely as her eyes peer through the opening of her black niquab, which covers the head, neck and lower part of face. She is majoring in political science and linguistics.

"People don't know about Islam. They don't know who Muslims really are and what type of things they do on a day-to-day basis," wrote Scott in the bio accompanying her photos. "The project gives insight to anyone who is interested in the perspectives of Muslim students living in the West."

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