Selected Works: Farrah Aridou

Farrah is a senior at AUP who is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. Her interest in photography began when she was in high school where she would look at the photography section of Dazed Magazine every day in between classes. Her passion for photography grew from an appreciation of the art she witnessed everyday on her digital screen thanks to iconic magazines like Nowness and i-D. She finally began to produce her own images during the pandemic when she impulsively bought an old Polaroid camera off Ebay. During the pandemic, she remained in France living in a 18m2 studio alone. Being all alone forced her to make herself the subject of her own photos. Farrah spent her days taking photos of herself doing everyday tasks such as brushing her teeth which then transformed into closeup images of every aspect of her body. It was during this time of photographing herself that she grew an understanding of how bodies can exist as art pieces in themselves. In addition, she began to question how acting as the photographer and being the one photographed mimics what we as humans’ embody in our everyday lives as the inhabitant and spectator of our own bodies.

Her obsession with bodies has led to her most recent work, “As Quiet as a Pin Drop” (digital photography). The inspiration for this work arose when one day, she walked by the bathroom door and witnessed her partner taking a shower. She thought to herself that he had never looked so beautiful and peaceful. She spent months later continuing to obsess over this moment trying to find a way to capture such a pure moment. During the shooting for this series, she left her camera on the entire day and snapped photos of her partner as he went about his daily routine. She woke up at 9 AM to watch as he got ready for the day which resulted in the shower portion of photo series and stayed up until 4 AM capturing photos of him as he drifted to sleep. The photos, taken from the perspective of a lover, were intentionally taken up close to mimic what the viewer would see if they were lying right beside the subject or taking a shower with them. The photographer invites you to take the place of her in the relationship, for this brief moment the viewer becomes her. The photos, although intimate and seemingly private, are shot with a closeness that suggests to the audience they are welcome to view this relationship freely. There are no barriers or indications in composition that what is being shown is not meant to be seen.