Rania Matar
Personal information
Rania Matar
Photographer, Architect
Contact information (Work)
Rania Matar Photography
+1 617 5382256
+961 3 382347
Community/Lebanon Impact
As a Lebanese-born American woman and mother, her ethnic background and cross-cultural experiences profoundly shape her art. She has dedicated her work to exploring issues of personal and collective identity through photographs of female adolescence and womanhood.
By creating intimate portraits of women both in the United States and the Middle East, she seeks to reveal the individuality of each woman who poses before her. Her focus is on capturing our essence, physicality, and the shared human experiences that connect us. Through her work, she highlights how female subjectivity evolves in parallel across different cultural landscapes.
Education
Education:
- Professional courses in photography, 2000-2003, New England School of Photography, USA.
- Professional course in photography, 2005, Maine Media Workshops, Mexico.
- Bachelor degree, Architecture, 1984 - 1987, Cornell University, USA.
- Bachelor degree, BArch, Architecture, 1982 - 1984, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
- Baccalaureate (French and Lebanese), 1967-1982, Collège Protestant Français, Lebanon.
Work history
Previous Professions:
- Freelance Photographer, 2000-Present, Rania Matar Photography.
- Associate Professor: Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Massachusetts, 2011- present.
- Photography Visiting Lecturer, 2004-Present, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cleveland Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Stanford University, Tufts University, Harvard University, Institute of Contemporary Arts Boston, Michigan State University, Chicago Cultural Center.
- Photography Exhibitor, 2004-Present, Colleges, Museums, Galleries and Cultural Centers in the US and internationally.
- Freelance architect, 1994-2000.
- Architect and Designer, 1987-1994, Schwartz/Silver Architects (USA).
Major Achievements
Publications (Books, Articles, Reports, etc.):
- Matar, R. (2009). Ordinary lives. New York: Quantuck Lane Press.
Major achievements:
- John Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Recipient in Photography, 2018.
- Finalist for the 2008 James and Audrey Foster Award, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, 2008.
- Selected of the 100 top distinguished woman photographers of all times by Women in Photography International, 2007.
Exhibitions, lectures & performances:
- In Her Image, Solo Exhibition, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, 2017-2018
- In Her Image, Solo Exhibition, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 2018-2019
- She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World, Traveling Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Carnegie Museum of Art, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC, 2013 – 2019
- SHE, (solo exhibition) Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Galerie Tanit, Beirut, cIe Cotmeporary, Milan Italy, Robert Klein gallery, Boston, 2018, 2019
- Contemporary Muslim Fashions, De Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2018
- A Girl and Her Room, Newport Museum of Art, Newport, Rhode Island, 2018
- Invisible Children, Galerie Tanit, Munich, Germany, 2018-2019
- Aftermath: The Fallout of War - America and The Middle East, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota FL, Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL
- Biennale des Photographes du Monde Arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France, 2017
- Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK, 2015-2016
- Bridge to Palestine, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, 2014
- The Middle East Revealed: A Female Perspective, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 2014
- Violence Transformed [Digital display and Exhibition], Traveling Exhibit in the Boston area, 2009.
- The Forgotten People [Exhibition], Koppelman Gallery, Aidekman Arts Center, Tufts University, 2008.
- Women of Islam [Exhibition], Michigan Avenue Exhibitions, 2008.
- The Looking Glass [Group exhibit], Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh PA, 2007.
- The Veil [Solo exhibition], MIT Simmons Hall, Cambridge MA, 2006.
- A Forgotten Population [Solo exhibition], UNESCO palace, Beirut, Lebanon, 2005.
Accomplishments
Awards:
- Reached the semifinals of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, National Portrait Gallery, Washington.
- Nominated for the Infinity Award, International Center of Photography.
- Received the Mellon Artist in Residence Grant, The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, 2017.
- Selected by ArtNet as one of the 10 photographers at the AIPAD Art Fair, 2017.
- Nominated for the Anonymous Was a Woman (AWAW) Award, 2017, 2013, 2010.
- Received the Mellon Artist in Residence Grant, The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, 2017.
- Selected by ArtNet as one of the 10 photographers at the AIPAD Art Fair, 2017.
- Received the Artist Fellowship in Photography from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, 2007.
- Nominated for the Anonymous Was a Woman (AWAW) Award, 2017, 2013, 2010.
- Unannounced Conversation: Mothers and Daughters, Lens Culture Portrait Prize, 2015.
- Top 50 Finalist, Critical Mass, Photolucida 2015 (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007).
- George Gund Annual Prize, 2011.
Competences & Skills
Field(s) of Expertise:
- Architecture
- Art
- Photography
- Social Issues
Languages:
- Arabic
- French
- English
- Spanish