December 13 – January 12, 2025
The Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture is a $20,000 prize awarded annually to a photographer whose work demonstrates a compelling new vision in photographic portraiture. The Prize is generously funded by the Arnold & Augusta Newman Foundation and proudly administered by Maine Media Workshops + College.
The Griffin Museum is pleased to present an exhibition to honor the winner for the Newman Prize, Camille Farrah Lenain.
“Made Of Smokeless Fire” is an homage to my uncle Farid, who passed away in 2013. In the absence of his voice, I turned my lens toward LGBTQIA+ individuals of Muslim culture in France, often underrepresented and simply ignored. France is home to the largest proportion of Muslims in the Western world, estimated at 8.8% or the population, or 5.57 million. Yet, islamophobia remains pervasive. At the intersection of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and racism, queer Muslims are actively challenging these inequities, while redefining their own cultural and religious heritage.
While some individuals have cut ties with their families, others have reinterpreted the Qur’an, found ways to heal with their parents, nurtured supportive community spaces in France. There is no singular narrative. By melding photography with personal testimonies transformed into poem-portraits, this project disrupts stereotypes, unveils the unspoken aggressions in France, and celebrates the nuanced resilience of its participants.
In France, there seems to be a reluctance to acknowledge the realities of racism. The term “race” was removed from the constitution in 2018 and the universalist mindset often echoes the phrase : “I don’t see color”. However, racism is deeply embedded in French society, as evidenced by the near victory of the far-right in the June 2024 parliamentary elections. This denial serves only to silence a pressing issue : by refusing to confront it, many pretend it does not exist.
Queer Muslim communities often exist in the shadows, either through a lack of representation or a conscious choice to remain unseen. How do we photograph the invisible? How can we honor identities while respecting their secrets? What modes of representation can we develop for undefined, queer, and plural stories? How can we soften a medium that has historically been violent in its classification of human identities?
The month of May 2023 marked 10 years since my uncle’s death. Opening up our memories and traumas can almost be redemptive, leading us to question our imposed narratives of faith, survival, family and love. This body of work has become a necessity for me, a tunnel for examining the trauma of silence surrounding queer lives. With secrets tied in loss of memory due to immigration, colonial history, and assimilation, this work has evolved into not only an homage to Farid but to queered and racialized bodies – bodies in liminality.
About Camille Farrah Lenain
Camille Farrah Lenain is a French-Algerian documentary and portrait photographer who grew up in Paris, studied Photography at l’ESA in Brussels and at ICP in New York City (virtual). She relocated to New Orleans in 2013, where she photographs for her community, teaches at Tulane University and works on long-term projects that challenges societal preconception, exploring the notions of stereotypes and plural identities. With a passion for sound and interviews, she also creates immersive sound pieces and recordings alongside her projects.
Camille’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Arab World Institute, Festival Incadaques and Photoville. She was previously an Artist-in-Residence at the Joan Mitchell Center and Center of Photography in Woodstock.
See more of Camille‘s work on her website, and on social media @camille.lenain
