Shirin Neshat's "Allegiance with Wakefulness"

            As I perused over the photographs at the Denver Art Museum, I was feeling relatively uninspired by the images surrounding me. That is, until I gazed upon Shirin Neshat’s “Allegiance with Wakefulness.”  The elegance and vividness of the photograph strikes me in such a way to awaken my eyes to another culture. There is brilliance in this photograph that resonates within my mind.

            The photograph shows two beautiful, pale, feet that look as if they have been covered and protected their whole life. The feet seem innocent, small, and well kept which leads me to believe that they are woman’s feet.  The soles of these feet are blanketed with some traditional Iranian language. It is a heavy contrast to the light color of the pale feel. It provides emphasis on the words that cover the soles. Between the two feet, a barrel of a gun genteelly sits almost as if it were in the resting position.  You can see that is the person whose feet look so fresh is holding the gun. It is my inference that the darkness of the gun is used to contrast the paleness of the feet. We can see two polar opposite objects. The compassionate feet and the cold hard gun which work in tandem to demonstrate feeling in this image. The title of this photograph is “Allegiance with Wakefulness.”  The feet consumed with the traditional writing indicate the allegiance aspect. This woman still practices traditional Islam beliefs. However, she is alert and vigilant which the gun exhibits.

            This photo is part of a series of photographs known as “ Women of Allah.” In her native country of Iran, her photos have been forbidden to show and tell. She hoped to remove violence from its traditional setting and display it in a feministic way.  She does so by using feminist poetry as the writing displayed on the body parts. Women in her society were repressed and restricted, so she hoped to awaken the sense by using them as models. These photos were a way for her to express her concern of the violence that occurred after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

            Shirin Neshat used photography as a way to push the boundaries that were traditionally set in her country. Her feministic eye shed new light on the violence in the Iranian society. Her work displays an unfavorable truth at that time. These photographs rang out a message of freedom from oppression and violence.