Sarah Bahbah – Can I Come In?12 Images
Since the launch of her first project in 2013, Sarah Bahbah’s work has filled the timelines and moodbards of individuals worldwide. Her expressive captioned stills, depicting slow-burning heartbreak or seductive, surreal daydreams, have said the quiet things we often think out loud. Through her work, over the last decade, the Palestinian-Australian artist has carved out a singular visual language of deeply stylised, emotionally blunt and cinematic stills.
With past projects such as Fool Me Twice, 3eib!, and This Is Not For You, Bahbah built a body of work that turned private grief into public language. But with her new six-part series, Can I Come In?, she’s making a shift, stepping out from the centre, and holding space for other women to do the same.
Launched through WePresent, WeTransfer’s arts platform, Can I Come In? is part visual essay, part intimate conversation, part psychological cinema. Birthed from a period of introspection, the project sees six women – Mia Khalifa, Liza Soberano, BANKS, Nemahsis, Cindy Kimberly, and Yesly Dimate – each stepping into an emotionally immersive world built just for them. “Everything that I’ve ever created in my art and in my career has always stemmed from a place of my own storytelling, my own heartbreak, my own grief, my own trauma,” Bahbah explains. “I was kind of at this place where I was like, do I have to suffer to be able to create art, or is there a way for me to still create art without having to only tell my story?”
Each episode sees Bahbah ask the same three deceptively simple questions. “What’s the story you want to tell right now? Do you feel misunderstood by the world? What alter ego are you summoning?” Speaking on the choice to ask these questions, she says, “When I’m creating my projects, it’s because it’s coming from a place of me feeling like I’ve been misunderstood, or like there’s this story living in my body that needs to be released. So if I’m extending my process to them to tell their stories, I’m going to ask them the same questions I ask myself.”
Shot across just three days, each part of the series unpacks a different topic with each woman, ranging from childhood trauma to experiences with racism, xenophobia, spirituality, plant medicine and heartbreak. Despite the time constraints with filming, each aspect of every set was intentionally crafted to reflect each subject’s inner world and personality. “Every single detail on set is personified for every single talent. So if they told me that alter ego wears lace, then they’re wearing black lace. If they told me their alter ego was red and silk, then there’s going to be red and silk. If they told me their vices were cigarettes, then there’s going to be cigarettes,” Bahbah explains. “From the martinis or the drinks that they are consuming and the food that surrounds them, that’s to the detail, everything they told me that they love and they like to indulge in when they’re in a safe space.”
The result is something that doesn’t look or feel like anything else online right now. Before photography, Bahbah built her early career working in advertising, and that background still informs her strategic thinking. “Something I do, whether I like it or not, is I see problems and try to fix them,” she says. “I was seeing so much of the same thing, podcasts in front of sterile microphones. It felt oversaturated.” Can I Come In? is her answer to that saturation. The hybrid format allows each individual’s stories to breathe in a world entirely cultivated by Bahbah and the featured talent.
In the first episode, featuring Mia Khalifa, the two sit down and have a vulnerable discussion on the breakdown of a past relationship. “She is so wise. She’s a very whimsical, intelligent woman. I think she’s like an alchemist in the way she’s able to process and give information,” Bahbah explains, speaking on Khalifa. “When you listen to the first scene of the way she reflects on her relationship, it’s done in a way [where] she’s able to express herself without giving away context, without slandering her ex. It’s just done in such a beautiful way, where everyone is protected.”
Alongside the series, Bahbah creates a collection of prints featuring stills that encapsulate her signature aesthetic. For the first episode, there are three images of Khalifa in her element, one with the caption, “I still love you. Probably forever.”
At a time when storytelling online often feels commodified or hyper-performative, Can I Come In? does something quieter. “I hope people are able to see parts of themselves in the talent stories, and feel seen by them because of the way these stories are shared,” explains Bahbah, explaining her wishes for the project. ”I hope that it helps people like heal parts of themselves that they otherwise wouldn’t have done”.
Watch the series and shop the prints here.
