Photographer Kadiya Qasem finds tension and hidden meaning in crashing waves and other symbols of aesthetic beauty.

Waves, sunsets, flowers, and clouds are among the most over-photographed subjects. It's easy to scroll past them on Instagram without a second thought. Yet, something about Kadiya Qasem’s work commands an uncomfortable pause.

Qasem's warm-toned waves are alluring but disconcerting. In looking at them, our gaze becomes the conduit through which uninvited visual fantasies are projected. Qasem turns these perennial visual clichés into poetic universal symbols, inviting viewers to reconsider what they see as desirable. The Allure of Otherness pairs photos of pastel clouds against beach landscapes and fog-soaked trees, positioning them as romanticized or exotic emblems.

For Qasem, a British Yemeni Greek photographer, they are stand-ins for how it feels to be a cultural other, and how that can impact an individual's identity. Her two-part Waves series adds a layer to this conversation, casting the ocean as a sign of resistance amidst global turmoil and the climate crisis. "If the sea could speak up," Qasem writes, "what would she say?"

In Horse Scapes, Qasem photographs horses at arm's length, often with her hand gently resting on their backs, abstracting their bodies into landscapes. A power dynamic is implied but, like all of her work, the relationship remains mysterious.

After years of following her work, I finally reached out to Qasem to learn more.

Jon Fenstein in conversation with Kadiya Qasem

© Kadiya Qasem. From the series The Allure of Otherness

Jon Feinstein: You describe your dreamlike images of crashing waves, deep red cloudscapes and abstracted flora as a means of questioning our assumptions of what is familiar, and also as a response to a world in crisis. Did you see these relationships to your work from the outset, or did they materialize as you made the work?

Kadiya Qasem: I was conscious from the outset. That tends to be the way I work. I’ll sit with an idea for months at a time. Then eventually a visual language appears.

Feinstein: Does our increased global revaluation of racism and the COVID Pandemic add a new layer to how you think about this work and the issues you’ve been addressing for years?

Qasem: I think the themes I explore have been brought into a wider consciousness. The Allure of Otherness was born out of being repeatedly told that I didn't belong, to go back to where I came from, but in the next breath being objectified as someone’s exotic fantasy.

New Wave Order now almost feels like a foretelling. I was tapped into feelings of uncertainty, frustration, anger and hostility and was thinking about change and what it would look like. Out of that came a feminine uprising, Mother Nature as an almost mythical figure taking back control. In many ways she has.

Feinstein: I have been drawn to your series "The Allure of Otherness" for a while now. Your use of landscape as a metaphor for complex cultural issues - romanticizing and exoticizing the cultural other - is an unexpected approach. How did this project start?

Qasem: I had revisited Edward Said’s work on Orientalism and was thinking about otherness and identity in the context of relationships. I like to think of it as a seduction of difference. It was a dance that my exterior was required to take part in, but internally I didn’t feel present or even invited to the party. There is a universality to landscape that I think everyone can relate to, so exoticizing it seemed like a good way to explore quite a complex idea.

Feinstein: If you're comfortable sharing, can you tell me a bit about how you personally fit into this?

Qasem: The distance and mystery is the space between the fantasy and reality of who I am. You recognize every image in the series for what it is, although you also see its difference. Most of the images in the series to date were shot in the southeast of England, where I grew up. They have personal significance and represent a quintessential English landscape. Despite being born and growing up here, I was acutely aware of my difference and felt the simultaneous need to belong and escape. The dreamlike suspension of these liminal spaces is a good place for exploration.

© Kadiya Qasem. From the series New Wave Order (ii)

Feinstein: What draws you to photographing waves specifically?

Qasem: My proximity to the sea is a starting point, but when I began photographing it, I was thinking about my parents' respective journeys to the UK in the 1960s. More generally, its form and dynamic and transient nature fascinate me. I like capturing those nuances.

Feinstein: I spend a lot of time on Instagram, and your Horsescapes images stop me in my scroll nearly every time you post one - specifically the images of a hand, often with bright nail polish, resting on the horse's side. They are comforting, yet also strangely disorienting. What’s the story behind this project?

Qasem: The horsescapes are an homage to my lifelong relationship with horses which started as an exploration of harmony, strength, and beauty. I love Guy Bourdin’s work and went to see the exhibition at Somerset House a few years back. I saw a black and white image that featured a woman on a horse hitting a man with a whip. It got me thinking about women, horses, power, and desire and how they are bound up.

This series is a very tongue-in-cheek nod to power and control. Most of the images in Horsescapes, especially the ones where my hand is present, are shot in that way because it is physically impossible to create any distance. I know the horses so well that whenever I appear they come to say hello and stand very close to me. They can walk off at any time, but they stay, sometimes repositioning themselves. Their adjustments usually create a better image. I like that they are active participants in the process, a joint effort.

Feinstein: How do you see this series interacting with your other work?
Qasem: Initially, it felt like this series sat outside of my other work, but over time it has come closer. Those vignettes into the surreal where I make an appearance will join some of those dots as the work develops.

© Kadiya Qasem. From the series Horsescapes

© Kadiya Qasem. Form the series Horsescapes

Feinstein: I see a dialogue with painting in a lot of your work. Can you tell me a bit about your broader inspirations?

Qasem: My inspirations are broad and include painting, literature, music, and sculpture. Barbara Hepworth’s Pelagos was a big influence for some of the images in New Wave Order (ii), as well as Carravagio’s use of light. I wanted to create images that focused on a single form but looked three-dimensional and dramatic. Turner was an inspiration for The Allure of Otherness. Constable and George Stubbs too. I draw heavily on literature though, Hanif Kureishi, bell hooks, Junot Diaz, Chinua Achebe, Audre Lorde, Edward Said, Anaïs Nin, I could go on. Sometimes it will also be a conversation or news story that will spark a train of thought.

I worked in a used record shop in London during the mid-’90s, discovering record covers was often as exciting as discovering new music. Fashion magazines are also a big inspiration. I collected Vogue for years and have some that date back to 1990. These are the things I come back to. I’m conscious that as soon as I send you this, I will remember more.

© Kadiya Qasem. From the series Hawaiian Fantasy

© Kadiya Qasem. Fro the series The Allure of Otherness

Feinstein: What else is driving you as an artist these days? What's keeping you going?

Qasem: I am motivated by the possibility of discovery. As a result, I often end up looking at too much and frequently overload myself. I’ve spent the past few months mainly reading, writing and listening to a lot of music. Balancing that with getting out into nature as often as was possible, imagining new possibilities. Over the past few years, I’ve become more aware of my rhythms and have come to realize that this is a stage in the process of birthing an idea, so despite the uncertainty, I feel relatively secure that something worthwhile will crystallize and emerge soon.

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