Interview with Artist

BOSTON AREA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER

I work out of my studio in Groton, MA, shooting headshots, portraits & creative dance. I also work on location helping entrepreneurs with their personal branding photos, videos and websites.

On this occasion I was in the Nineveh region of Northern Iraq on assignment with ARCH International. This interview is with Basima al-Safar a local artist in the town of Alqosh. People come from all over to see her house which is painted inside and out with religious paintings–the crucifixion, three wise men, saints…  It is a feast of color and religious symbolism.  She also runs a small shop from her house where sells clothing that she makes.

Read more about my time in Iraq in an ARCH blog post. Here is an excerpt:

“Kathy also loved meeting Basima, an artist from Alqosh. They were laughing so much when Basima told her that some people wonder about her house with all the decorations and murals. They become curious and often ask ‘is this a church?’ And sometimes, to play with them, she just says ‘yes, it is’. One of the video clips Kathy showed her audience was of Father Araam playing with a baby. He gives her a plastic water bottle and the baby drops it off her high chair and couldn’t be happier. The little one giggles and repeats the game over and over again. After the presentation someone came up to Kathy and remarked that this particular clip made the people more relatable to him, ‘babies are the same everywhere!’