{{Short description|Lebanese/Palestinian/American documentary, portrait and fine art photographer}} {{Infobox artist | name = Rania Matar | image = Rania Matar Portrait.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different than name --> | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1964}} | birth_place = Lebanon | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | education = | alma_mater = American University of Beirut,<br>Cornell University | known_for = Fine art photography | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | awards = <!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) --> | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = {{URL|www.raniamatar.com}} | module = }}
thumb|''Becoming'' at RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco thumb|''She Who Tells a Story'' exhibited at National Museum of Women in the Arts '''Rania Matar''' (born 1964) is a Lebanese/Palestinian/American documentary, portrait and fine art photographer. She photographs the daily lives of girls and women in the Middle East and in the United States, including Syrian refugees.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goukassian |first=Elena |date=4 October 2016 |title=Looking at the Invisible Children Growing Up as Refugees |language=en-US |work=Hyperallergic |url=http://hyperallergic.com/327313/looking-invisible-children-growing-refugees/ |url-status=live |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202012452/https://hyperallergic.com/327313/looking-invisible-children-growing-refugees/ |archive-date=2 February 2023}}</ref>
== Early life == Matar was born and raised in Lebanon and moved to the U.S. in 1984.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Durant |first=Mark Alice |date=7 October 2016 |title=Rania Matar: Invisible Children at C. Grimaldis Gallery |work=Photograph Magazine |url=http://photographmag.com/reviews/rania-matar-invisible-children-at-c-grimaldis-gallery/ |url-status=live |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120221633/https://photographmag.com/reviews/rania-matar-invisible-children-at-c-grimaldis-gallery/ |archive-date=20 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=Catriona |date=1 July 2011 |title=Arab and American teenagers open their bedroom doors |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/01/photography.arab.us.teenagers/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521012156/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/01/photography.arab.us.teenagers/ |archive-date=21 May 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> Originally trained as an architect at the American University of Beirut and at Cornell University, she later studied photography at the New England School of Photography and the Maine Photographic Workshops. Since 2009 she has taught photographic workshops for teenage girls in Lebanon’s refugee camps. She now teaches at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and exhibits her work worldwide.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 January 2016 |title=Dubaï : Rania Matar, Becoming Girls, Women and Coming of Age |language=en-US |work=The Eye of Photography |url=http://www.loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2016/01/12/article/159885865/dubai-rania-matar-becoming-girls-women-and-coming-of-age/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128040310/https://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/dubai-rania-matar-becoming-girls-women-and-coming-of-age/ |archive-date=28 January 2023}}</ref>
== Career == Matar has made several series of photographs, including ''SHE'', ''L'Enfant Femme'', ''Unspoken Conversations'', ''Women Coming of Age'', ''A Girl and Her Room'', ''Invisible Children'', and ''Ordinary Lives''. Her portraits explore gender studies and often consider varying national identities.<ref name=":0" /> ''L'Enfant Femme'' depicts preteen girls living in the United States and the Middle East, and focuses on documenting the age between childhood and maturity.<ref name="Slate">{{Cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=David |date=4 March 2015 |title=These Photos Beautifully Capture the Complex Relationship Between Mothers and Daughters |language=en-US |work=Slate |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2015/03/04/rania_matar_unspoken_conversations_examines_the_universal_and_complex_nature.html |url-status=live |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225142946/https://slate.com/culture/2015/03/rania-matar-unspoken-conversations-examines-the-universal-and-complex-nature-of-mother-and-daughter-relationships-photos.html |archive-date=25 December 2022 |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> Mothers and daughters are photographed together and present a universal nature of womanhood in the series ''Unspoken Conversations''.<ref name="Slate"/> Matar began her series ''Invisible Children'' after a visit to Beirut in 2014. She noticed how many Syrian refugee children were on the streets begging for work and money.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Urist |first=Jacoba |date=4 April 2017 |title=How Should Art Address Human Rights? |language=en-US |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/04/how-should-art-address-human-rights/521520/ |url-status=live |access-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225142834/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/04/how-should-art-address-human-rights/521520/ |archive-date=25 December 2022}}</ref> This series documents the individuality of each child.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jaafari |first=Shirin |date=10 November 2014 |title=Giving Syrian children their identities back, one portrait at a time |language=en-US |work=The World |publisher=Public Radio International |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2014/11/10/photographer-captures-portraits-syrian-refugees-lebanon |url-status=live |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225142922/https://theworld.org/stories/2014-11-10/giving-syrian-children-their-identities-back-one-portrait-time |archive-date=25 December 2022}}</ref> In 2017, Matar's work was included in the Biennale of the Contemporary Arab World held in Paris at the Arab World Institute.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 September 2017 |title=Biennale of Arab Photographers : Interview with Rania Matar |language=en-US |work=The Eye of Photography |url=http://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/2017/09/27/article/159966901/biennale-of-arab-photographers-interview-with-rania-matar/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014031202/https://loeildelaphotographie.com/en/biennale-of-arab-photographers-interview-with-rania-matar/ |archive-date=14 October 2019}}</ref>
==Publications== thumb|''L'Enfant-Femme'' at Carroll and Sons *''Ordinary Lives'' (2009). With an essay by Anthony Shadid. Selected as best photo book of 2009 by ''Photo-Eye Magazine''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009 |title=The Best Books of 2009 |url=http://www.photoeye.com/Magazine_Admin/Index.cfm/bestbooks.2009.books |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108022622/http://www.photoeye.com/Magazine_Admin/Index.cfm/bestbooks.2009.books |archive-date=8 January 2012 |access-date=15 March 2017 |website=Photo Eye Magazine}}</ref> *''A Girl and Her Room'' (2012).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Oot |first=Torey |date=27 January 2016 |title=A Look Inside The Rooms Of Teens In Two Very Different Worlds |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2016/01/104565/rania-matar-teen-bedroom-pictures |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230521020801/https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2016/01/104565/rania-matar-teen-bedroom-pictures |archive-date=21 May 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=Refinery29 |language=en-GB}}</ref> With essays by Anne Wilkes Tucker and Susan Minot. Selected as best photo book of 2012 by ''PDN'', ''Photo-Eye'', ''British Journal of Photography'', ''Feature Shoot'' and ''L'Oeil de la Photographie''. *''L'Enfant-Femme'' (2016). With an introduction by Queen Noor of Jordan, and essays by Lois Lowry and Kristen Gresh. Selected as best photo book of 2016 by ''PDN Magazine'' and ''Foto Infinitum'', and was a Staff Pick by ''The Christian Science Monitor''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 December 2016 |title=Notable Photo Books of 2016: Part 2 |language=en-US |work=Photo District News |url=http://www.pdnonline.com/features/photo-books/notable-photo-books-2016-part-2/ |url-status=live |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311014808/https://pdnonline.com/features/photo-books/notable-photo-books-2016-part-2/ |archive-date=11 March 2020}}</ref> *''SHE'' (2021). Published by Radius Books with essays by Orin Zahra and Mark Alice Durant.
==Awards== *2018: Guggenheim Fellowship, Photography, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Rania Matar - Fellow: Awarded 2018 |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/rania-matar/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521011516/https://www.gf.org/fellows/rania-matar/ |archive-date=21 May 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=Guggenheim Foundation}}</ref> *2021: Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2 November 2022 |title=Fellows Notes - Nov 22 |url=https://artsake.massculturalcouncil.org/fellows-notes-nov-22/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428231611/https://artsake.massculturalcouncil.org/fellows-notes-nov-22/ |archive-date=28 April 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=ArtSake |publisher=Massachusetts Cultural Council |language=en-US}}</ref> *2022: Leica Women Foto Project Award Winner<ref>{{Cite web |last=Djudjic |first=Dunja |date=16 March 2022 |title=Leica Women Foto Project announces its powerful 2022 winners |url=https://www.diyphotography.net/leica-women-foto-project-announces-its-powerful-2022-winners/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219190058/https://www.diyphotography.net/leica-women-foto-project-announces-its-powerful-2022-winners/ |archive-date=19 December 2022 |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=DIY Photography |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=8 March 2022 |title=Leica Camera USA Announces 3rd Annual Leica Women Foto Project Award Winners & Mentees {{!}} Leica Camera US |url=https://leica-camera.com/en-US/event/leica-camera-usa-announces-3rd-annual-leica-women-foto-project-award-winners-mentees |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228025654/https://leica-camera.com/en-US/event/leica-camera-usa-announces-3rd-annual-leica-women-foto-project-award-winners-mentees |archive-date=28 February 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=Leica Camera |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{Official website|www.raniamatar.com}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matar, Rania}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:American photographers Category:Lebanese art Category:Lebanese photographers Category:Lebanese women photographers Category:American women photographers Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Massachusetts College of Art and Design faculty Category:21st-century American women