A Day With Photographer Malin Fezehai
Swedish-born photographer Malin Fezehai stumbled upon her profession after taking a photography course in high school. "I have dyslexia and school was challenging, but photography came naturally to me and I thought that maybe this is something I should pursue," Malin says. Now based in New York, Fezehai travels across the globe to countries like Ethiopia, Haiti and Israel to capture images for publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker and Time Magazine. Her compelling portraiture and eye-opening reportage showcase a life lived #withmeaning.
[read_more] on HER WORK “My photographic work has the common theme of displacement. My subjects have included the slowly sinking islands of Kiribati, the underage workers in Ethiopia and the war torn lives of women in Sri Lanka. Right now I am working on a project about African refugees in Israel. What I hope people see in my images is sensitivity, composition, respect, curiosity and just the beauty of life and people existing even in the harshest circumstances. I love telling stories.”
on TRAVEL “Being the child of a Swedish mother, an Eritrean father and having an Arab stepfather, I have several different cultural influences. My mixed background has pushed me to want to travel and understand different cultures and ways of thinking. Every trip I take changes me, always adding a new layer to my self. Not sure how to explain it but you just grow. It’s painful at times, but I always say 'It’s just growing pains.'”
on OTHERNESS “Speaking only for myself, I think when you grow up in mixed home in an immigrant community as I did, you don’t feel like you have one cultural identity and tend to be able to connect with all kinds of people. You grow up with this sense of always being a little out place. That feeling is one of the reasons why I think I gravitate towards displaced communities in my work. The feeling of otherness is something I feel very connected to.”
on STYLE “My style is pretty classic, but I like clothing that has a detail to make it a little different. I love high-waisted workman pants because they look good and are comfortable -- perfect for field work. Sometimes I work in places where I have to dress modestly so I do shop with that in mind. Coclico boots are great for me because they have a classic look and are comfortable but with details that set them apart, which is exactly what I look for.”
on FOREVER ITEMS “My friend Soull Kehinde is a really good jewelry maker and she made be a brass necklace that is a chain with two squares connected by a rod. They look like small eyeglasses. No matter what country I am in, people love and comment on that necklace.”
