Lali Khalid is an immigrant artist grappling with issues of identity, home, family and diaspora. In her photographs captured over a span of ten years, she illustrates complex challenges exploring new ways of retaining her identity in an environment of changing ideologies and perspectives. Khalid successfully bridges two ends of spectrum: the fading past and the vague future. The images viewed without a predetermined perception explain the evolving narrative through the veiled stories imbedded in them.
Mehreen (Lali) Khalid came to the United States from Pakistan in 2007 as a Fulbright Scholar and attended Pratt Institute, NY where she received an MFA in Photography in 2009. After returning to Pakistan for two years, she immigrated to the United States in 2011. Issues relating to diaspora, identity, family and home dominate Khalid's photographic inquiry. Her images focus on cultural and private conflicts, broaching these topics obliquely through the emotive effects of natural light, and subdued narrative allusion. By photographing primarily in color, and using the startling qualities of "found light," Khalid's photographs exist between a mood of quiet longing. Lali Khalid has shown her work in numerous exhibitions throughout Europe, Pakistan, and the U.S., including most recently at Light Work, Roy G Biv and Devos Museum. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography in the Roy H. School of Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY.