Scarlett Coten's series, "Mectoub," is a collection of portraits about masculinity in North Africa and the Middle East.
Yahia in Tunis, Tunisia —
Scarlett Coten's series, "Mectoub," is a collection of portraits about masculinity in North Africa and the Middle East.
Scarlett Coten
"Mectoub" is a play on words combining the colloquial French word "mec" for "guy", with the Arabic 'maktub', which means "it is written".
Khalid in Amman, Jordan —
"Mectoub" is a play on words combining the colloquial French word "mec" for "guy", with the Arabic 'maktub', which means "it is written".
Scarlett Coten
French photographer Coten worked on "Mectoub" from 2012 to 2016, while traveling around Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, the West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon.
Yassine in Fez, Morocco —
French photographer Coten worked on "Mectoub" from 2012 to 2016, while traveling around Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, the West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon.
Scarlett Coten
Coten won the 2016 Leica Oskar Barnack Award and has exhibited in many countries around the world.
Hicham in Tangier, Morocco —
Coten won the 2016 Leica Oskar Barnack Award and has exhibited in many countries around the world.
Scarlett Coten
Coten says being an outsider helped her subjects open up and confide in her.
Abdel in Marrakech, Morocco —
Coten says being an outsider helped her subjects open up and confide in her.
Scarlett Coten
"In a face-to-face meeting we are vulnerable because we reveal ourselves. And this unveiling gives birth to something that is more sensitive," Coten says.
Hamedo in Ramallah, West Bank —
"In a face-to-face meeting we are vulnerable because we reveal ourselves. And this unveiling gives birth to something that is more sensitive," Coten says.
Scarlett Coten
"I really position myself as a woman who looks at these men," she says. "To look someone in the eyes puts us in a situation of vulnerability, and therefore to be closer to who we truly are."
Hamada in Amman, Jordan —
"I really position myself as a woman who looks at these men," she says. "To look someone in the eyes puts us in a situation of vulnerability, and therefore to be closer to who we truly are."
Scarlett Coten
Often the men were not used to having their photographs taken, explains Coten, and it took a while before they began to relax.
Artsy in Marrakech, Morocco —
Often the men were not used to having their photographs taken, explains Coten, and it took a while before they began to relax.
Scarlett Coten
She explains how "Mectoub" was partly born from a desire to better understand masculinity and to show a new image of the Arab man.
Mohammad in Amman, Jordan —
She explains how "Mectoub" was partly born from a desire to better understand masculinity and to show a new image of the Arab man.
Scarlett Coten
"I think that the concept of masculinity is something that is evolving today around the world," she says.
Aref in Tunis, Tunisia —
"I think that the concept of masculinity is something that is evolving today around the world," she says.
Scarlett Coten
"Mectoub" exhibited at The Biennial of Photography in the Contemporary Arab World, at the Arab World Institute, Paris in November this year.
Hazem in Cairo, Egypt —
"Mectoub" exhibited at The Biennial of Photography in the Contemporary Arab World, at the Arab World Institute, Paris in November this year.
Scarlett Coten