| Title | Face To Faith |
| Artist / Creator | Laila Nahar |
| Press Name | Night Rain Press |
| Artist's Nationality | United States |
| Place of Publication | Folsom CA |
| Publication Date | 2025 |
| Author of Text | Laila Nahar/Tanveer Khondker/Scriptures and Psalms from Torah, Bible and Quran. |
| Process / Technique | Archival Inkjet Printing on Red River 32lb Matte |
| Number of Images | 44 |
| Image Process | Double Accordion |
| Medium / Materials | Archival Pigment Print on Red River Matte |
| Paper Stock | Red River Matte 32lb Double Sided, Bookboard |
| Number of Pages | 13 spread each with 3-4 photo-montage folds like accordion. |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 4 x 5.6 x 0.75 inches. Opens to 110 inches. |
| Edition Size | Limited edition of 25 |
| Box / Wrapper | Slipcase |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
Face To Faith by Laila Nahar
I was trying to grasp and capture what is there in the shades of rituals and faith in the pilgrims of the old city of Jerusalem. To me, I see familiar expression on every pilgrim’s face - on the western wall, inside Dome of Rock and the Church of Holy Sepulchre. It was of deep faith, vulnerability of human existence and, lamenting the loss of ancient cause.
The old city has three of the world’s most important religious sites.
Just behind the Wailing Wall which is considered the holiest for Jews, I could see the glittering Dome of the Rock, which houses the rock from
where Muslims believe the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.
And only minutes away is the pilgrim-thronged Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows), which follows the Stations of the Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on the site where Jesus is believed to have been crucified.
By end of day, to me, all faces in the sacred sites of Christianity, Jewish and Islam became one - every pilgrim in the congregation or prayers was same to me.
It is painful to conceive, for centuries, religions fight over the narratives of Jerusalem and the custody of its stones. The outside of the book stands as a wall depicting the walled city of Jerusalem while the inside of the accordion shows the pilgrims devoted into rituals from three religion.
Artist Bio
Laila Nahar is a lens-based artist and book-maker in California, USA. She lived her life in stark cultural contrast, born and brought up in Bangladesh and eventually migrating to the USA. She is primarily a self-taught photographer and book-artist exploring belonging, memory, cultural and collective identity. Her background from Bangladesh continues to shape her artistic identity and her work goes back to her roots in the Indian subcontinent. Laila attended workshops with Elizabeth Avedon, Void Impromptu (Publisher), Melanie McWhorter, Yumi Goto, CBA in NYC and Susan Kae Grant. She attended CODEX 2024 with 7 of her handmade Artist photobooks.. Will you come to Rome with me? photobook was selected for DUMMY AWARD 24 shortlist; also top 10 finalist in APhF: 24. I Have Been Here Before photobook shortlisted in Independent Category Lucie Photo Book Prize 2022, featured in PhotoBook Journal and selected for the 12th Annual Self-Published PhotoBook Show (2022) at Griffin Museum of Photography. Unfolding: Color of Life - Old Delhi photobook selected for 13th Annual Self-Published PhotoBook Show at Griffin Museum (2023); and Honorable mention in Back on the Shelf by FilterPhoto in exhibition (2023). Laila’s handmade artist photobooks are in permanent collections of several libraries and museums, including Candela Gallery, University of Colorado Boulder Rhode Island's School of Design, University of Richmond (Virginia), Museum of Fine Arts (Houston) among others.