The Magical Headspace Of Muslim Artist Noor Al-Mosawi

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There's a lot going on inside Noor Al-Mosawi's head.

As a wedding photographer, the 34-year-old from the greater Toronto area spends her days telling other people's stories. Her Instagram feed is filled with elaborately dressed brides and loving couples sharing tender gazes.

But on the inside, her soul was still searching for solid ground.

"I recently walked away from an emotionally abusive relationship and I realized that I lacked a connection to my inner voice," Al-Mosawi told The Huffington Post. "Not knowing about what I thought, or how I felt about things."

Then, one day, Al-Mosawi decided to turn the camera on herself.

When she first started putting her self-portraits together, Al-Mosawi said it was strange seeing her face on the computer screen. But she pressed on, manipulating the space around her head to fit her mood.

She would start with an image of herself, keeping her face bare and using just a few dabs of eyeliner and mascara. Then, she'd add layers to the piece, mixing images that she had photographed with designs she created on Photoshop. 

The result is a series of 21 images, each paired with a quote from author Mark Gonzales' book, "In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty." The book is made up of short but inspirational lines of prose that guide the reader through what Al-Mosawi calls an "internal paradigm shift." It was these words, along with the support provided by her faith, family and friends, that helped spur the photographer's healing process.

"This series is about self-care, about finding a grounding, stabilizing energy in our lives, regardless of what's swirling around us," she said. "We have this space we can go to retreat, recalibrate and center ourselves."

See some of Al-Mosawi's  images below, and follow her on Instagram for more.

H/T Ummah Wide

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