You look like a … Matthew

These portraits were motivated by a challenging
comment – ‘shave your beard off, you look like
a terrorist’ – my parents (who are Lebanese
Australians) directed at my brothers, hoping to
persuade them to shave. The portraits are of
young men who wear beards not as a religious
requirement or symbol of political allegiance, but
rather as a ‘hipster’ style choice. Problematically,
their appearance and ethnicity superficially recall
images of ‘jihadis’ represented in the western media.
The portraits also recall clinical passport images;
however, the subjects challenge the authority
of institutional requirements: they subvert the
camera’s gaze by looking to the side.