The Power of the Lens

Keisha Toms is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer who, as a Fulbright scholar in 2005, traveled to Yemen to document the country through photography.

For her two-year fellowship, she chose the theme of identity negotiation in the Arab world applied to the Yemeni experience. The following video documents Toms' photography project and features a short one-on-one interview.

"Negotiating your space, on a day-to-day level, is sharing culture. Everything from just walking down the street as a six-foot-tall black woman is a little unusual in Yemen," said Toms. "It spurred a lot of conversation, and I met a lot of fantastic people ranging from taxi drivers, to the guy who sold me rotisserie chicken."

You can find the original video at the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs' YouTube channel here.

My Fulbright Story: 'Life Through the Lens'

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