Awatif Alsabah

Photographer Maha Alasaker began making environmental portraits of Kuwaiti women in their homes in Kuwait in the most intimate space, their bedroom, which offer an unprecedented glimpse into these women’s private, more authentic lives.

Women in Kuwait brings together 25 portraits from the series accompanied by excerpts from interviews with the subjects conducted by Alasaker’s creative partner, Nada Faris, a Kuwaiti writer and performance poet. The women featured in the book highlight the diversity of Kuwaiti women’s professional ambitions: a chef, a journalist, an orthodondist, a senior executive, a financial researcher, an economist, a stylist and a veterinarian. Here, a selection from the book of photographs.

44 married master lifecoach English literature , (2018)

Athoob Al-Shuaibi

39, Married, Journalist (2015)
“A Kuwaiti woman is lost between an overwhelming social responsibility and the building of her career. Women are equal to men in our constitution. However, laws and regulations don’t correspond with what came in the constitution articles.”

Djinane Alsuwayeh

29, Single, art director and photographer (2015)
“Woman are not equal to men… You see it everyday in the way kids are being raised, at work and in conversations. I don’t consider myself a Kuwaiti woman, as I have a whole other half in my blood. I can tell you how it feels to be me; love in the soul.”

Haneen Alasaker

41, single mother, Financial Researcher (2015)
“Women and men are equal in Kuwait. I think Kuwaiti woman is strong, stylish and intellectual.”

Sharifah Al Falah

39, Married, Information and Marketing officer in Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (2015)
“Women are equal to men in Kuwait, they go head to head in education, political rights and professions.”

Farah Khajah

31, Single, Events Organizer (2016)
“It is not easy being Arab / Muslim in general. But if you know what you’re doing … If you know what you want … Everything will fall in place eventually….”

Fatimah Alyakoob

32, Single, Operations Manager in ERA.Media (2016)
“The Kuwaiti woman is unconventional. Women are equal to men in Kuwait only in the workforce, not in every other aspect of life.”

Mariam Mandani

25, Single, Freelance Designer (2016)
“Our constitution gives a certain amount of rights to each citizen and we as women are not given all these rights, only some of them. It’s as if we are less of citizens than men.”

Maryam Al-Nusif

35, Single, Chef and Gardener (2017)
“Kuwaiti women are champions, I think they are more blessed than others. All the limitations and obstacles in their way strengthens their determination, empathy and compassion.”

Amnah Al-Mutawa

31, Divorced, Orthodontist (2017)
“Kuwaiti women are bold. Proud to be a Kuwaiti woman yet facing difficulties in balancing traditions and the modern definition of equal rights.”