The techniques used in photography are important because the camera can be a powerful tool in transmitting messages and shaping our perspectives on the world.  Amelia Jones argues in her essay The “Eternal Return”: Self‐Portrait Photography as a Technology of Embodiment that photographs are screens that reflect and alter the way in which we see the world. “The screen defines the process through which we perform ourselves simultaneously as subjects and objects of looking” and so it not only changes how we see others, but also how we see ourselves. 

An example of a change in perceptions is the mid 20^th century feminist movement that fought for the empowerment of women in the western world. During this movement, many images of strong, independent women were offered which helped change the way women were viewed. In ‘The New Woman International’, which chronologizes the emergence of the ‘modern woman’, the two editors of the collection of essays – Elizabeth Otto and Vanessa Roco – explain that“visual representation provided some of the most fertile ground for defining and expressing New Womanhood.” This is because photographs can be powerful tools that influence our perceptions and because it is “through photography and film, these images could most easily be transmitted, reprinted, or projected”, images that become metaphors for the state of womanhood. 

A compelling argument made in The New Woman International is that “the development of a feminine modernism was parallel to the emergence of new visual technology” and that the feminist movement was “a creature not only of modernity but also of modern technology”because of the access and new possibilities this technology offered. In Benchallal’s case, for example, technology undoubtedly played a vital role in her project. Hand-held, personal cameras allowed her to explore on her own, uninhibited by bulky box cameras prompted up on a tripod of the past. These pictures hanging on the walls of NYUAD, spreading the Benchallal’s message further, were only possible thanks to modern technology which allowed them to be enlarged, printed and turned into a gallery collection. New technology and the increase in freedom for women emerged hand in hand and both had a great influence on one another.

In photography, the different techniques employed and subjects focused on, make a significant impact on the viewers. Photographs can transmit messages and stories that frame the way in which the viewers see their world. When enough people are influenced, a shift in society takes place. In this case, Benchallal deliberately seeks a shift in the way Muslim women are portrayed and observed and uses her camera as a tool to achieve this.