"I've traveled a lot for work and it's rare to get real moments of intimacy and connection when you are in and out of places very quickly. Yet, I feel I have this collection of images in my mind of women connecting with me just on the basis of being a woman. In Iran I was filming the Supreme Leader and I was having a hard a time with my head scarf - I am just not that good at putting them on correctly. And then, in the kindest way possible, a woman come up to me and took our her own hairpin and fixed my headscarf so that it didn't get in the way of the camera. She saw that I was struggling with it and we were only speaking the language of womanhood. I think this sort of intimacy is particular to being a woman." - Singeli Agnew is an American producer/cinematographer currently based in Beirut.
Kelsey Weber
"Because I'm a woman I was able to be part of the sisterhood in Senegal. It's a Muslim country and outside the home the women are mostly reserved, but I had the opportunity to be with them at home, in kitchens and in front of the Mosque. This way I was included in the daily ongoings and the conversations about their lives. " - Kelsey Weber is a recently returned Peace Corps Volunteer who is studying to earn a Masters in Global Human Development at Georgetown University.
Abrar Omeish
"I am visibly Muslim because of how I dress, but I think about how this is different for Muslim men. Sometimes this means I am asked questions ,which is ok, but sometimes it results in insults. An Uber driver threatened to shoot me. When I got in the car I said, "Good Morning." And he said, " Are you going to shoot me?" and then said, "Oh,I better get my gun." Then he started leaning over like he was going to take something out of the glovebox. I made a joke and diffused the situation somehow." - Abrar Omeish is a student at Yale University.