Noor Aldayeh is a photographer and visual artist from Los Angeles, California.
She graduated Suma Cum Laude from Emory University with a bachelor’s degree
in Film and Media studies in May of 2023. The queer daughter of immigrants, a
Syrian father and Jordanian-Palestinian mother, much of Aldayeh’s work
revolves around commentary on Orientalism. She is specifically concerned with
the orientalist gaze as it pertains to women and gender non-conforming
individuals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her work aims
to grapple with the representation of MENA and its individuals, especially in
Western media. Aldayeh’s senior Honors thesis, Hayati: My Life / My Love, is
her first solo photography exhibition, centering queer MENA women and gender
non-conforming individuals and their safe spaces, and still up for public viewing
at The Hatchery in Atlanta. Featuring six individuals of the identity from around
the United States, this work will continue to be expanded upon post her
graduation in order to continue to build an archive of this identity.
Noor was awarded the Dr. Jack G. Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarship by
the ADC (Arab-American Anti Discrimination Committee) in June of 2022,
which is awarded to Arab Americans who excel in media studies; and which
funded a majority of her thesis.
You can contact Noor on every platform @nooraldayeh. Her Instagram Art
account: @capturethenoor.
Thank you for being here, as you are, today <3