Weekly Artist Post

Pooja Jain

Pooja Jain uses what seems to be a film camera. Also she shoots in black and white. All three images are portraits of a muslim woman and her canine companion. It's apparent that she is using the direction of subject's gestures along with the chair to create visual balance in each image. This is seen in the first image as she leaves a lot of open space in order to draw attention to the dog's head. In the second image there is a chair in the left corner which helps support and balance out the empty space left between the dog and the floor. In the third image the woman is leaning back from the center of the image and towards the left, to balance, the chair is doing the same but towards the right.

I think Pooja uses a film camera to give an old feeling to the image as a way to say that the idea of canine negligence in muslim culture is outdated. Also i think she uses black and white along with the black and white striped background as symbols to express a need for equality. The carpet works along the the woman's burqa to show that this injustice is localized to muslim culture. In all three images the woman is embracing her canine in a very ordinary-looking motherly manner. You can tell from the gestures and positions of the woman and her pup that they are both very comfortable with each other. It even seems as if they depend on each other.

I am deeply inspired by how Jain chose to tackle this stereotype, miscommunication, injustice, whatever you want to call it. As a young US citizen in Iranian culture i found myself confronted by this very issue. Dogs weren't seen as companions but rather, tools to be used and disposed of. If they didn't serve a purpose they were regarded as foul demons only to be mistreated or neglected. What's strange is that although the Quran doesn't condone having dogs as pets, it doesn't prohibit feeding or touching them. This misinformation has led to ignorance in muslim communities all over the world, ignorance that is in face very much against the teachings of the Quran. Jain's images show how we can challenge the way a community views something to affect positive change.