Janice Levy Spends Sabbatical in Riyadh

Professor Janice Levy (MFA ​‘86), who is on sabbatical leave from the Department of Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts at Ithaca College, is consulting and teaching at Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) in Riyadh.

Since her arrival in Saudi Arabia in October 2010, Levy has taught the first-ever photographic courses at PNU and helped develop the photography major in PNU’s College of Art and Design. Levy said that formal education in photography is a new concept in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially for women. Some, she explained, still don’t feel comfortable photographing in public even though the Saudi government’s ban on public photography was lifted in 2006. ​“Although it’s difficult to believe, I have students who, with the exception of coming to the college, rarely leave their homes.”

Earlier this year, Levy gave a presentation at the Embassy of Sweden in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia co-sponsored by the Embassies of Sweden and Norway. In her presentation – ​“A Photographic Journey” – Levy shared her first photographic impressions of Saudi Arabia, the work produced by her students, plans and projects for the future, and the challenges and rewards of teaching photography as an interdisciplinary medium.

Levy routinely photographs in places such as the falcon and camel markets in Riyadh. ​“When the students look at my pictures they always ask, ​‘Are these places in Riyadh?’ I hope the photographs inspire them to explore their world.”