An African-American photojournalist living in South Africa since 2009 who mentored four Temple University students studying abroad last summer will be featured at a major exhibit on Main Campus this month.

Iris Dawn Parker will exhibit her work Mouride Muslims in South Africa Sept. 15-19 in Annenberg Hall’s atrium. Additionally, she will lead a discussion at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at Temple Contemporary on the first floor of Tyler School of Art. Parker will discuss her Mouride Muslim photos, as well as her inspiration for a series of photographs taken during a meeting with Nelson Mandela, the late South African president.

School of Media and Communication (SMC) Professor of Journalism Karen M. Turner, who has co-directed the SMC Study Away program in South Africa, facilitated Parker’s appearance through the Maxine Edelson Elkin Endowed Lecture Fund.

In an email interview, Parker, a native of North Carolina, said Mouride Muslims in South Africa is a black-and-white “observation” of a Muslim community living in a suburb of Johannesburg that invited her to document their lives.

“Their hope was that these photos would be seen publicly to show an insight into their religion and demystify some of the negative views around followers of Islam,” Parker said.

After several sessions with them during times of worship, she realized she still knew very little about these people and found out more about their personal experiences outside of the mosque.

“It is imperative for more positive life stories to emerge from South Africa and the continent as a whole,” Parker said. “A particular story about the resilience and determination to pursue one’s human rights, religious freedom, dignity and a peaceful way of living for the Mouride Muslims is one story that I wanted to visually capture in photographs.”

Being named Iris, Parker feels she was destined to be a visual person—“to see life through a certain lens from the very beginning.”

She said she uses her camera to introduce herself to new people and places and create images that empower those she photographs.

“In my images, I seek to show the dignity and humility of each subject,” she said.

Parker wanted to bring her work back to America after an exhibit at Kalamazoo College in Michigan “generated several weeks of dialogue around difference, tolerance and the fear of the ‘other.’ For me, this was a good sign, and I wish these photographs could be exhibited in many places in the United States.”

After her interaction with the SMC and Tyler students in South Africa last summer in her former role as manager of the photojournalism and documentary photography program at Market Photo Workshop, Parker said she is looking forward to sharing her work with more Temple students. 

“What I remember most about the five-week course with students from Temple in South Africa was their eagerness to acclimate themselves and get engaged with South African students and the culture around them right away,” Parker said. “This group were very hardworking students who engaged well with the development of their own individual projects in such a brief time frame.”

—Jeff Cronin