lebanese photographer, artist and activist myriam boulos’ raw and personal photography finds its potency where intimacy and political agency collide. her mission to overexpose the marginalized and the silenced has resonated across the region and the world, as she forces society to look at itself in the mirror, when it would rather look away.

you’ve mentioned that you discovered photography at 16 while discovering your own sense of self. so far, what has photography allowed you to discover about yourself?

that’s a huge question and i wouldn’t know where to start! photography is a way to get closer to myself, to people and reality. it answers to my sensory seeking needs, it bridges the constant gap i feel between my inner world and the worlds that exist outside of my head. it helps me express myself, connect and communicate with people in my own way. it is a way of experiencing the present moment intensively and then spending hours, days or weeks alone at home processing everything while editing, retouching and sequencing the images. it’s a concrete proof of life, desires, pain, struggles, and existence, and of course, it taught me to fight, individually and collectively.

you’re an artist whose identity is tightly interwoven with your work. is it a blessing, a curse, or both?

it took me 6 months to answer this interview so you tell me! it’s definitely exhausting because it’s like having 1983636 interconnected tabs open in my head all the time. i believe it’s a way of viewing and experiencing the world kind of in 3d instead of 2d - am i making sense? i feel like the fact that who i am is tightly interwoven with my work makes the whole outcome more circular and complete, and less binary or linear. if i try to fit in anything else but myself, it gets more exhausting and the result is sad and basic.

you’ve received many accolades and mentions throughout the years from very reputable organizations in the industry. are they part of your ambitions, or just welcomed surprises?

definitely welcomed surprises. everything i do comes from a desire or a need, it is never for reputable organizations in the industry. this might sound weird, but i am not a person with big ambitions - especially not when it comes to reputable organizations in the industry - partly because i do not know how to project myself into the future. my ambitions are more linked to surviving the present moment, being honest with myself, being comfortable in my body, simply feeling, and sharing magic with the people i love.

**"photography is a way to get closer**
**to myself, to people and reality. it answers to my sensory seeking needs, it bridges the constant**
**gap i feel between my inner world and the worlds that exist outside of my head."**

you’ve just released your photography book what’s ours, a collection of 10 years’ worth of work. has the book's creation process given you a different perspective on your work?

when aperture suggested to publish my work, my first answer was that i wasn’t emotionally ready. working on this book was like fast forwarding therapy sessions, but at the same time, editing and sequencing work like memory: we have the data, the images, fragments of diary and conversations, and we choose what we want to do with it. it gives us some agency over it.

you play a lot with exposure, namely overexposure, which adds a very intimate and raw quality to your work. what would you like to expose, as an artist, for the world to see?

i’m always trying to show things that are normalized when they shouldn’t be, or the opposite, realities that are being erased or silenced. that’s one of the magical aspects of photography: choosing what we want to show or hide, taking space through images, resisting and literally existing through images.

where does this need to expose different realities come from?

my biggest privilege was growing up in a little bubble protected by my family's love. when i started taking pictures it was as if i met the different realities out there. as a person who is fascinated by people, but who’s also socially anxious and has difficulties communicating with groups of people, i used my camera to observe and try to understand these worlds. one of the things i became aware of is normalized oppression in both public and intimate contexts. a turning point in my personal life made me go from witnessing this oppression to refusing it and being loud about it.

gender has become somewhat of a hot topic and has sometimes been divisive. a lot of your work is in direct relation to gender, sex and intimacy. in your opinion, are we moving forward or backwards?

i hope we’re moving forward! i think we are. yet, the more we fight for liberation, the more the extremists and fascists will fight back, no?

both lebanon at large and beirut in particular have been through a lot in the past few years. has your relationship with your homeland/town stayed intact?

it’s still home, where i feel grounded, and where i want to be.

there’s been a pushback on civil liberties in lebanon and the world. has that had any impact on your work?

yes. i’ve been more aware about the fact that images can be used against us. i’ve been more careful and my work is becoming more and more collaborative. i only take risks when i know the people in the images want to take them. we decide to take the risks together.

you’ve posted bare pictures of yourself on your social media. why is there so much shame when it comes to nudity, and how did you overcome it?

so much shame! i have a particular relationship with my body, my image and representation. i am always surprised when i bump into my reflection. as a kid, i would giggle and laugh nervously when i was faced with a mirror at the hairdresser. i take a lot of selfies, it’s a way of learning to look at myself. i take selfies with or without clothes, and when i post them it’s not about nudity, it’s a question of existing through images which is, for me, as real as the “real” world, if not more. i think we have to question the motivations of those who project their ideas on my body!

your social media is very political. you use your platform to denounce many forms of oppression, and have been outspoken about the palestinian cause. many artists, journalists, and activists have been silenced for doing so. have you ever been faced with censorship for expressing your political views? if so, how did you react to it?

a mainstream publication asked me to write an opinion piece without using the word genocide. i realized i only know how to write when i own my words, when they come from my guts. i was asked to dissociate myself from my own thoughts and to censor myself. as a neuro-divergent in this neuro-typical world, a woman in this patriarchal world, an arab in this white supremacist world, this is what i’ve been taught to do: change my words, mask and make myself smaller, and lower my voice. this is also what i’m constantly trying to deconstruct and resist. we’re constantly micro-silenced (did i just invent a word?) and manipulated into censorship.

what’s next for myriam boulos?

more images, fighting for liberation, magic and tenderness!

interviewed by ralph arida

myriam boulos: overexposed take 2