Thana Faroq a Yemeni-born photographer, writer, and educator living in the Netherlands. Her multidisciplinary work, which combines photography, textual narratives, and moving images, explores the transformative experiences that have shaped her identity and sense of belonging in both Yemen and the Netherlands. Focused on themes of memory, migration, and intergenerational trauma, her work serves as a visual autobiography, highlighting women's resilience and the search for belonging in post-disaster contexts. Thana has received several prestigious honors, including the Open Society Foundation Fellowship Grant and the Arab Documentary Fund. She was recognized as ‘One to Watch’ by the British Journal of Photography in 2020 and won the PhotoWien Photo Book Award in 2021 for her book "I Don’t Recognize Me in the Shadows." Currently, she is a fellow in the first iteration of the ADPP fellowship program.
Current Show: Louder Than Hearts: Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran, Middle Institute, Washington DC
Upcoming Show: Breda Photo Festival 13 Sep-3 Nov Breda, The Netherlands
Rotlicht Festival Vienna 2024 15/11/2024
Please note: I will be migrating to a new website soon, and no updates will take place on this current site. For inquiries please email me at thana.faroq@gmail.com.
Education
Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague (KABK), The Netherlands
MA Photography & Society, 2019-2021University of Westminster, London, UK
MA Documentary Photography and Photojournalism, 2016-2017Clark University, Worcester, US
BA in Government and International Relations, 2009-2013
Awards
Berry Koedam Award (Nominated, 2024)
Rotlicht Festival Vienna (Winner, 2024)
Kunstenaar Basis Mondriaan Fonds (Grant Recipient, 2024)
The Arab Documentary Fund (Fellowship Recipient, supported by the Prince Claus Fund and Magnum Foundation, 2024)
Global Peace Photo Award (Shortlisted, 2023)
Kunstenaar Start, Mondriaan Fonds (Grant Recipient, 2023)
New York Portfolio Review (Selected, 2023)
Foto Wein Photobook Award (Winner, 2022)
FUTURES (nominated by FOTODOK and Der Greif 2022)
The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture - AFAC Visual Arts (Grant Recipient 2021)
Thesis prize, Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague (Nominated, 2021)
Lucie Photobook Prize (Shortlisted, 2021)
Hamburg Portfolio Review (Selected, 2021)
British Journal of Photography, Ones to Watch (2020)
National Geographic Society (Grant Recipient, 2019)
Zenith Magazine (Reporting Grant Recipient, 2019)
The Arab Documentary Fund (Grant Recipient, 2019, supported by the Prince Claus Fund and Magnum Foundation)
Open Society Foundations (Fellowship Grant and Exhibition Recipient, 2018)
World Press Joop Swart Masterclass (Nominee, 2019)
Publications
(2023) How Shall We Greet the Sun
168-page hardcover book (photography & text) published by Lecturis, The Netherlands(2020) I Don’t Recognize Me in the Shadows
168-page softcover book (photography & text) published by Lecturis, The Netherlands
Other Publications
Foam, Vogue Arabia, National Geographic, NY Times Lens, Marie Claire Italy, NPR, World Press Photo, Zenith Magazine, The Huffington Post, Aljazeera, BBC, CNN Arabic, Vocative Magazine, Gueurnica Magazine, Muftah Magazine, Alsafir Alarabi Magazine, Oxfam International Photo Blog, CARE International Photo Blog, Steep Feed Magazine, UN Women
Selected Shows
How Shall We Greet the Sun Rotlicht Festival Vienna (2024)
How Shall We Greet the Sun, Breda Photo Festival, Breda Netherlands (2024
Grounding – Stories of Migration” by FOTODOK x BredaPhoto, Netherlands (2024)
How Shall We Greet the Sun, Book Launch, Magnum Foundation, NYC, US (2023)
Louder Than Hearts: Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran, Middle Institute, Washington DC (Group, 2024)
Prospects Mondriaan Fonds, Art Rotterdam, Netherlands (Group, 2024)
How Shall We Greet the Sun, Book Launch, Foam Amsterdam, Netherlands (2023)
For Those Who Couldn’t Cross the Sea, The Nordic House in Reykjavík, Iceland (Group, 2023)
Imagination, Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands (Group, 2020)
Changing Perspective, Kunstgarage Franx, Zoetermeer, NL (Group, 2023)
Verbeelding, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, NL (Group, 2022)
SALWA Gathering, Goethe Institute, Amsterdam, NL (Group, 2022)
Art The Hague, Pulchri Studio, The Hague, NL (Group, 2021)
Displacements: Yemen Diasporas, PhotoEspaña Festival, Madrid, Cordoba (Group, 2020-2021)
Parts Unknown, Interactive Digital Performance & Website, Amsterdam, NL (Group, 2020)
I Don’t Recognize Me in the Shadows, Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands (Solo, 2020)
On Echoes of Invisible Hearts: Image Making and Popular Archiving in Times of Unrest, Station Beirut, Lebanon (Group, 2019)
Moving Walls 25: Another Way Home, Open Society Foundations, NY, US (Group, 2019)
Women in Yemen, Beyond Borders Festivals, Edinburgh, UK (Group, 2019)
LUMIX Festival for Young Photojournalism, Hannover, Germany (Group, 2018)
Armenia Art Fair, Yerevan, Armenia (Group, 2018)
Perpetual Movement, Arab Women Artists Now Festival, Rich Mix, London, UK (Group, 2017)
Sehnsucht, Sehnsucht Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Group, 2017)
Public Speaking
2023: Speaker, Book Club Talks, FOTO DOK Utrecht, NL
2022: Speaker, Witnessing, Memory and Crisis Conference, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam, NL
2022: Speaker, (IN)VISIBILITIES: Gender and Photography in the Netherlands, FOTO DOK Utrecht, NL
2021: Speaker, Migration in Perpetuity: Yemeni Voices from the Diaspora, The Middle East Institute and Culture Center, DC, US
2021: Speaker, Storytelling for Change Summit, Photographers Without Borders
2019: Speaker, The Things They Carry: Photography and Post-migration Trauma, Humanity House, The Hague, Netherlands
2019: Panelist/Speaker, Yemeni Youth Cultural Diaspora Forum, Doha, Qatar
2019: Speaker, International Dialogue on Migration, Geneva
2019: Speaker, Women and War in Yemen, The Hague Talks, Netherlands
2018: Speaker, The Road to Integration Through Higher Education, Utrecht University’s Incluusion
2017: Panelist/Speaker, Launch of the 2017 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, United Nations Office
2017: Speaker, Women Like Us: The Power of Untold Stories in Yemen, University of Edinburgh
2015: Speaker, The Power of Untold Stories, World Forum Theater, IB Global Conference, The Hague, Netherlands
2013: Speaker, TEDxSana’a 2013, The Magic of Street Photography, Sana’a, Yemen
Teaching Experience, Mentoring, and Panel Selection
2024: Jury Member Luis Valtueña Award-Spain
2021-Present: Teacher, Royal Academy of Art (KABK), The Hague, NL
2021: Study Coach, Royal Academy of Art (KABK), The Hague, NL
2021: Mentor, Cultural Networks Yemen, Goethe-Institut Jordan
2021: Jury Member, The Jacob Hartog Prize, Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands
2021: Jury Member, “Yemen 2021: Hope for the Future,” Netherlands Embassy
2021: Photographic Creative Lead Artist for Accenture ID Festival
2020: Mentor, BA Photography Students, KABK, The Hague, NL
2020: Workshop Presenter and Facilitator on Visual Storytelling, Refugee Center Utrecht, Joseph Haydnlaan
2017: Workshop Presenter and Facilitator on Visual Storytelling, University of Edinburgh, UK
2016: Workshop Presenter and Facilitator, I Spy With My Little Eyes Project, British Council, Sana’a, Yemen