Portland State Magazine Fall 2018

20 ALSULTAN , born in the U.S. and educated in England, moved to Saudi Arabia as a teenager, where she earned an undergraduate degree but also married at the age of 17. At Por tland State, she studied social linguistics and did her master’s thesis on Saudi women studying abroad and the resulting cultural and identity issues they experienced. Alsultan returned to Saudi Arabia as a single mother of two having separated from her husband. Eventually she asked for a divorce. She taught English and supplemented her income with her photography, including lavish weddings, which she still photographs today. FROM the weddings and her own personal experience, Alsultan’s series Saudi Tales of Love emerged. Most of the photos on these pages are from that series, which won the 2017 Sony World Photography Contemporary Issues award in the professional photographer category. “I wanted to answer questions that many shared,” wrote Alsultan about Saudi Tales . “Do we need marriage to signify that we have love? Do you need a husband to have a significant life?”