Lalla Assia Essaydi is a Moroccan born photographer who currently lives in the United States. Essaydi previously was a painter, primarily painting flowers and other non-controversial topics, as Muslim women are not allowed the freedom to create any type of art they wish to. Essaydi's work was not taken seriously in her native country, and only after coming to the United States did she feel free to pursue a topic of great interest to her, the subjugation of Muslim women.

Her work consists of photographs of Moroccan women, either draped in cloths covered in Arabic writing, or entirely nude, whose bodies are hennaed with text. In her earlier work, her intent was to create a visual commentary on the literal confinements that is a reality for women of her religion. These women were photographed with the backdrop of beautifully patterned rooms in a place where disobedient females were sent to live as punishment, in seclusion for periods of time. The women in these photographs represent the isolation that is imposed on them by the men they are ruled by, and how they are, in a respect, confined by men, yet free of their physical presence, consequently restricted to, as Essaydi puts, "the visions of feminity." The photographs of these women, disrobing amidst a society who covers females from head to toe, allows the subjects to take over their sexuality and individuality.

Essaydi recently received her master's degree from Tufts University, claiming that the experience has liberated her a great deal, yet she still has to hide her photographs from her family back home. "At school, I can do this work; I'm not in a museum yet. It could be dangerous for me." Essaydi still returns to her homeland to take photographs, but the work that she is known for in the United States must remain outside of her native country.