This photographer fights Islamophobia with beautiful portraits

Speaking Arabic, beards, solving math on an airplane ... all these things are 'scary' in a world dominated by Islamophobia. 

But, photographer Mark Bennington wants the world to stop passively listening to the media and to branch out and see Muslims for who they really are - humans.

In his series "America 2.0," Bennington features portraits alongside the stories of a few Muslims in New York City. 

"My newest body of work is in direct response to the politicized images of American Muslims depicted as a plagued foreign diaspora. It is about the universality of youth," Bennington writes.

"Young Muslims are vivacious, earnest, informed youths eager to participate in our/their American democracy."

The shots were taken in the studio and painted with only natural light. With a neutral gray backdrop, the portraits shine through. 

Hany, 27, General Manager at Cairo Dental in Queens: 

"Because poverty is what really brings out crime Not religion or skin color. We are perfect we are beautiful we are inter-faith, we are inter-racial, we are educated, we are blessed, we are the people of the United States of America Thank you Mark And God bless AMERICA.”

Sana, 25, Fashion designer & CEO at Sana Hashmat Couture: 

“My motto is 'GEM from am to pm'. Graceful. Elegant. Modest. I want woman (and men) to embrace their natural beauty without having to exploit it- so they can accentuate their individuality without compromising it. Isn’t that what being an American is really all about? Embracing your individuality?”

Helda, 29, full time student at Rutgers University majoring in Public Health and works full time as a Healthcare coordinator: 

“So you have Muslim religion and Muslim culture. The thing with our religion and culture is that they are so intertwined. People mistake a lot of culture things to be religious and they’re not. There’s a stigma attached to our culture when it comes to marriage. You can’t date. I have 5 sisters and all my sisters were married with one child by the time they were 21. I’m going to be 30 this month. So, I’m the only one that has branched out of that and not followed that tradition. I’ve dated someone for a long time, that in the beginning was secret, but then when it got serious, when it came time to get married it was a big problem... it’s complicated!”

Abdelrazaq, 25, NYU Dental student: 

“We are part of this country, part of this community - a large part - and voting is a way for us to show those who run for governmental positions that ‘Hey, we are here. We matter, we carry weight and you can't make a political career out of marginalizing us and communities like us because you will not succeed.’”