b. Selangor, 1968
Soraya Yusof Talismail was one of the original Matahati Artist’s co-operative members, graduating from Mara Institute of Technology in 1989. That same year, she was made the personal photographer of Tuanku Bainun, the consort of Sultan Azlan Shah. Her portraits include those of England’s late Queen Elizabeth II and the late Palestine leader Yasser Arafat. Her portraiture photography reached its height in the exhibition “Imaging Selfs” at Galeri Petronas in 2008, and a sampling of the works was shown at Etay Gallery in New York in 2009. Soraya, alongside her artist-photographer husband, Ariff Awaluddin, established the Kokopelli Travellers Bistro and Gallery in Petaling Jaya and have worked together on the project called “Angin” on the folk arts of Kelantan. Soraya has been a member of the Professional Photographers of America since 1992.