OPEN CALL 2025 – Ongoing

Unveiled Stories

An insight into the impact on Muslim women living in Switzerland after the “Burka Ban” in 2021.

In March 2021, Swiss voters narrowly approved a controversial ban on full-face coverings in public spaces, a decision with sweeping symbolic implications but minimal practical impact, given the small number of women who wear the niqab or burqa in Switzerland. Yet, the law’s visibility outpaces its statistical relevance. It has reignited debates around religious freedom, feminism, identity and integration. At its heart lies a potent question: who has the right to be seen and on what terms?

The idea behind Unveiled Stories (working title) is the development of a photographic series that explores the lives of Muslim women in Switzerland affected by this legislation. Rather than reducing the women to political symbols, the project invites them to reclaim narrative agency through image. In a climate where they are often spoken about rather than spoken with, the work seeks to build intimacy, complexity and collaboration. It is not an attempt to speak for them, but to listen, portray and contextualise the reality of the individual.

“It’s worth mentioning that this ban has created a sense of fear among Muslim women (and men) in general, those who wear the hijab, those who don’t, across all ages and levels of modesty. The fear is about whether we can truly feel safe in the country we live in, or if one day we have to worry about not being able to go to school simply because of what we wear. This situation has really created a deep sense of insecurity both in terms of personal safety and concerns about the future. Especially when we see what has been happening in neighboring countries like France.”

Feyza Hilal Karabulut, 2025

How do I know if I can take part?

This project welcomes all women aged 18 and above who currently live in Switzerland (in any region and for any length of time), who are of Muslim faith and who have experienced negative or alienating treatment connected to the 2021 “Burka Ban.”

You are warmly invited to participate regardless of whether you wear a headscarf, wear a particular style of covering or no longer wear one at all.

By adverse effects, it’s meant any kind of negative or exclusionary experience from society directed at you because of your faith or appearance.

This is not a statistical or ethnographic study but a human centered project that seeks to make visible the experiences of those affected. It is an independent initiative by photographic practitioner Azura Silberschmidt, with no institutional affiliation.

How do I sign up?

Click the “Click to Participate” button above. A short form will open, please fill it out to get started.
Once your information is received, your details will be carefully added to a written agreement, which will then be sent to you for review. Your registration will be finalised once you click “Accept” on the agreement.
After that, the photographer will get in touch to schedule your portrait session. Each session usually lasts between 30 and 90 minutes, please keep this in mind when choosing a time that works best for you.

What does it mean to participate?

By registering, you’ll be considered for a portrait session with photographer Azura Silberschmidt. There is no cost to take part.

After the completion of the project, you will receive one professionally edited image, chosen by the photographer. Should funds become available during the course of the project, the portion allocated to participants will be shared equally among all who take part.

Azura aims to photograph as many women affected by the 2021 “Burka Ban” as possible during the image production phase in 2026, in order to make space for as many voices and experiences as possible.

For that to happen, she needs you, the women who have been personally impacted, to come forward. If this project speaks to you, it’s an opportunity to express your experience in your own words and to be seen in the way that you choose.

If you have any questions, worries or hesitations, please reach out. As this project is currently self-funded, Azura would like to sincerely thank you for your interest, trust and patience. She looks forward to hearing from you and sharing your stories.