2006 Berenice Abbott Honorable Mention:
Rania Matar
Rania Matar (www.raniamatar.com), from Brookline, MA,was orignially trained as an architect at Cornell University, but is working full time as a freelance photograper. The Veil: Modesty, Fashion, Religious Devotion or Political Statement? focuses on the spread of the veil amongst women in Lebanon and the different interpretations the veil takes on. “What makes this project interesting to me is that it provides a microcosm of what is going on in the world today in terms of the growing differences but at the same time the existing inter-dependencies between the West and the Arab world, or Christianity and Islam.”
Rania has received considerable recognition for her work, including awards from the Women In Photography, the Silver Eye Center for Photography, and the Golden Light Awards.
A Passage from the Koran, Beirut Lebanon 2005
The Broken Mirror, Beirut Lebanon 2005
Three Generations, Tyre Lebanon 2005
Covering Up, Beirut Lebanon 2005 
Looking at the Sea, Beirut Lebanon 2005
