Rania Matar: L'Enfant-Femme

Rania Matar has outdone herself, and that is hard to do. Her work was already perfect, but this book is extraordinary. I loved the introduction by Queen Noor, the heart-grabbing essay by Lois Lowry, and the Afterword by Kristen Gresh. They have captured in words what Matar intended and succeeded in doing with these photographs of pre-adolescent girls. I sat last night for three hours looking over and over again at each photo. Matar captured the intensity, the shyness, the self assertions, the everything that goes with trying to flower into an adult woman. I saw myself in so many of those photos, and they brought back memories of my first attempts to look beautiful, to assert myself, to be arrogantly smart, to be to be….. Thank you for this magnificent book. I know how much labor and cost go into producing such a magnificent book. The price allows access to it by many. Clearly, the book is worth much more. It is art conveying humanity in a very creative form. The beauty of it is that Matar has succeeded in conveying the universality of the process and inner life of growing up female. She has provided a depth of understanding into the complexity of pre-adolescent identity formation which alludes so many others who claim authority. Beautiful

L’Enfant-Femme continues to reveal new things every time I open the cover. Rania Matar has produced a beautiful object in every way. The printing is particularly wonderful, which is essential to revealing the subtle color pallet she employs in the beautiful portraits that are awash a similarly quiet lighting as some of my favorite Northern Renaissance painters, or the lonely scenes by Hopper, but which is uniquely Matar’s. Then of course there is the intimacy she captures with the subjects, often pairing portraits together in fascinating juxtapositions revealing the universality of the human experience. One of the most touching elements of this series is the coupling of photos she made of individuals at 2 different ages; seeing the transformation the ladies go through is amazing. To compliment Matar’s work are a couple of really sensitive essay’s that delve into the significance of the series. I believe Rania Matar addresses some incredibly important ideas in her work, using the camera with elegance and intelligence. This book definitely earned a place of honor on my bookshelf.

The book is beautiful. I knew it would be, but there's something about reading the essays, meeting the girls, and holding the images in my hands that gives them even more intimacy. They make me think about my students, 14 years old and up but still struggling with the same journey of finding themselves, sexually, physically, emotionally, socially. They make me think about the daughters I hope to have and the mother I hope to be, and how delicate and nuanced the dance is in between self-empowerment and external influences....how to protect and instill independence. I can't wait to share this work with my students. (And, down the road, with my children). Thank you!

Rania Matar is uniquely blessed with a vision that lets the viewer breach the kernel of each girl's femaleness. I see that femaleness as something beyond cultural constraints. There is a purity here. Not sexual purity, but female purity. It's hard to put into words. She does it better with the pictures!

I love this book! The portraits of these girls are beautiful and eloquent, and a testament to the "in-between" of child/adulthood. The design and printing are very rich. It is a true gem!

An exceptional book in every way. Rania Matar has done it again. I am a longtime fan of her work, but this book is by far the most amazing of the three. Bravo.

The photography in this book is beautiful and universal in the way it captures the bud of a girl's femininity as she starts her transition to womanhood.

The book itself is not perfect- I'm not happy with how the cover image is simply glued (badly) to the fabric. The actual photography is beautiful for what it is- but I feel like something is missing.

Good, but not as good as I'd hoped.