Artist Feature: Soraya Zaman
Upon realizing their lens could help them find the power in their own complex identity, the Australian-born creative Zaman, moved to New York and began working as a photographer. Zaman’s photography is raw and emotive, effortlessly capturing moments. Identifying as queer and non-binary, Zaman’s personal work explores notions of gender and sexuality.
Photography by Soraya Zaman
Q: Can you share something you've learned from creating this body of work that would resonate with our community?
S: Binary gender is fundamentally used to make many decisions in health care and this puts trans people in vulnerable positions. Even in the most progressive city of New York and among doctors and medical staff who specialize in trans surgeries, medical transphobia and heteronormative biasses exist. Oliver’s story is a testament to that.
Q: Tell us about your work process! Do you plan your images ahead or are you more improvisational?
S: When I shoot a series like this, I like it to be a collaboration between myself and the person I’m photographing. I’m really just a portal for their message and journey, so I let the process be as emergent as possible.
Photography by Soraya Zaman
Q: What type of expectations for queer and non-binary artists are the most frustrating or challenging to you?
S: I think artists who like to center queerness in their work, can often get pigeon holed or perceived as only being capable of doing queer centered work. It can be frustrating and just shows the underlying prejudices some people have. They can’t see beyond the “queerness” and just see a great image. We have to work much harder then if we chose to center hetero cis gender subjects.
Q: What does being a feminist mean to you?
S: For me, being a feminist is the embodiment of anti-colonialism including racial and environmental justice as well as trans inclusive gender equality and freedom.
Q: Do you have any upcoming events, exhibitions, or news you'd like to share?
S: I have some things in the works for later this year but I can't share them yet :)
Photography by Soraya Zaman
Follow @sorayatzaman and view more at sorayazaman.com
