My Christian-Muslim Family

I grew up in an inter-religious and inter-racial family. I was born to a Muslim Palestinian father and a Catholic Brazilian mother. Every time I mention this, the first reaction is astonishment. Yet it is all very natural to me. I was always surrounded by artifacts of both cultures and religions. As a kid, I and my siblings would go to the Mosque on Fridays and to the Church on Sundays. We were never asked to pick on one religion or culture. Both were part of us, as simple as that. My father and my mother cherish each other's religion and culture. To illustrate this point, I depict my mother in traditional Palestinian clothes in front of her collection of Christian saints. In the same vein, I depict my father in traditional Palestinian clothes in front of a painting of a colonial church in Brazil made by my mother. My main motivation in shooting this series was to show to the world that inter-religious dialogue is possible and, in fact, a reality in my family. As I left home and my niece was brought up by my parents, I realize that they keep teaching tolerance and respect to her in the very same way that they did to me.