Benedicte and Laeticia, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Lebanese-American photographer Rania Matar uses the portrait to examine the nature of female identity in girlhood, adolescence, and middle age in the United States and the Middle East. Born and raised in Beirut of Palestinian descent, Matar has lived in the United States since 1984. In her art, she emphasizes “underlying similarities rather than apparent differences across cultures,” and looks for the “beauty in our shared humanity.”