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On Gaza, Love, and Stereotypes with Saudi Photographer Tasneem Alsultan
Episode 15829th October 2025 • Going Places • Yulia Denisyuk
00:00:00 01:02:15

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Today, we're speaking with Tasneem Alsultan, a Saudi-American photographer known for her work on gender and social issues in Saudi Arabia and the region.

Tasneem is the first Arab woman to become a Canon ambassador. She has primarily worked with The New York Times and National Geographic, but as you’ll hear in this episode, she has largely stopped collaborating with Western media outlets that continue to dehumanize Palestinian people in their coverage, headlines, and framing.

What has she focused on since? Learn all about it in this episode.

Become a Going Places member for as little as $6 a month. Visit our reimagined platform at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Going Places is an audience-supported platform. Become a member for as little as $6 a month and get the perks like getting on a group call with Yulia every month to ask questions, get advice, and be in community with each other.

Visit us at goingplacesmedia.com to learn more.

Thanks to our Founding Members:

  • RISE Travel Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to create a more just and equitable world through travel education
  • Radostina Boseva, a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Questioning the silence of the media on the journalists killed in Gaza
  • Tasneem withdrawing from Women Photograph
  • A photography career after opting out of Western media organizations
  • What it was like growing up between the US, the UK, and Saudi Arabia
  • Tasneem addresses the misconceptions about Saudi Arabia
  • What it's like traveling alone as a Saudi woman in Saudi Arabia
  • Are women who are covered up oppressed?
  • Why Tasneem thinks the borders are invisible
  • What gives Tasneem hope

Featured on the show:

Going Places is a reader-supported platform. Get membership perks like a monthly group call with Yulia at goingplacesmedia.com!

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Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more. 

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.

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