In Contempt by Lali Khalid
Any juxtaposition of text and image will generate a discourse, perhaps even a tension. The words in my work are excerpted from numerous letters of contempt, emails, texts, and legal notices served to me. Combined with photographs of my son and me, I can address the issues I am prevented from addressing elsewhere. Through these juxtapositions I ask, why did someone else have to decide my future, a future that I had fought so hard for? What does justice for all mean? What is freedom from fear? What makes some of us freer than others? Do we feel free by not knowing and detaching ourselves from others?
Since 2017, I have been summoned to the courts in Michigan consistently and have experienced the absurd bias of the legal system. Motions have been filed, hearings scheduled, testimonies given, and judgements made. Silently screaming, I have often wondered why my voice is not being heard. This ruthless process, where I am a number, not a name, has made me fathom and somewhat accept the difference; the difference others see.
I have been in America for more than a decade, but somehow, for this society I remain a question, still in the process of being formulated.
Lali Khalid is originally from Pakistan and lives and works in Ithaca, NY, USA.
To view more of Lali’s work, please visit her website or find her on Instagram @Lalikhalidphotography
