fatima butt

Your name
Fatima Butt
Place of birth
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
Place where you live now
Lahore, Pakistan
3 words to describe you
adaptable, affectionate, ambitious
Why do you take pictures?
It's so simple, literally a click away! I enjoy staging objects and figures to narrate a story of my own. Through space and light, and loads of experimentation, I land on a visual that lies somewhere between fiction and reality - that is what intrigues me.
Where do you get your inspiration?
From past experiences and thoughts that I find necessary to visualize in physicality. Whether that is organic forms created through light and shadows or personalities that need to be staged within a still.
Who are your influences?
Photographs taken by my grandparents are my biggest influence. From concept to composition, my very own personal archive holds the most importance.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
Many a times, the dreams that I have. Specifically, the people present in them. Makes me feel like they're calling to be remembered.
What impact would you like your art to have?
Simply the ability to communicate. To generate a conversation with oneself.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
We began by measuring distance - Basma AlSharif
Is there anything you want to add?
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Project statement

With a yearning for the past and uncertainty in terms of the present, Butt is working on a series of photographs inspired by her late grandmother's interest in textiles. These golden finds were discovered among termite-infested furniture and rusted pots in a metal safe that held a number of quilts gifted to her mother by her grandmother at her wedding. Focusing on its visual language as inspiration to embody the human presence alongside a familiar space, the collection began with photographs taken around her own home.
Butt’s curiosity about art-making stems from the yearning of the past. Growing up in culturally diverse surroundings, the constant travel from Saudi Arabia and back to Pakistan has left her with hesitance in understanding the difference between fiction and reality. 

See more by Fatima Butt in A Visual Dialogue in issue #8