ABSTRACT
Compared to other Arab nations, Tunisia between independence and the writing of the post-revolution constitution in 2014 is characterised by ‘state feminism’. The final draft of the new constitution (2014) states equal rights for women; it also states that Islam is the religion of the state. My father, Mokhtar Latiri (1926-2007), was a photographer whose work was part of his practice as a civil engineer; he is one of the main contributors to the infrastructure of modern Tunisia. This chapter will first explore a lesser-known part of his work: his private family albums and in particular his photographic portrayal of women from the 1950s to the 1970s. I will reflect on the archival and ethnographic meanings of a selection of photographs as a Tunisian woman photographer, a writer and as an academic. The selection of photographs will be presented with fragments of narratives collected from my father’s autobiographical notes. I will contextualise photographs and narratives to allow for a diachronic interpretation of Tunisia through these portrayals of Tunisian women under colonial rule and in the early days of independence. In the second part of this chapter, I will present a selection of my own photographs of women taken during fieldwork before and after the Tunisian Revolution (between 2009 and the present) as a visual response, documenting Tunisian women and the complexity of post-modern Tunisia. I will explore in particular tensions between tradition and modernity and both the affirmation of gender equality and Islamic interpretations of gender roles.
