This paper aims to contextualize the work of contemporary Moroccan photographer Lalla Essaydi within a globalized art world and as an artist who transcends regional borders in her occupation of multiple physical spaces. Essaydi grew up in Marrakesh, Morocco, studied in Paris, France, lived in Saudi Arabia, and now divides her time between the United States and Morocco. Her work engages with female identity in a postcolonial Moroccan context wherein she seeks to disrupt the West’s longstanding tradition of voyeuristic obsession with the female Arab body. Essaydi’s work depicts a fantasy-like space that explicitly engages with the Orientalist art historical tradition. Her collection, Les Femmes du Maroc (2005-2008), depicts a domesticized fantasy of female bonding, but with direct reference to Orientalist paintings of 19th century France by artists like Eugène Delacroix and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. She frames her work around Edward Said’s seminal Orientalism (1978), as she looks to subvert a narrative that promotes Western hegemony over the East, not just politically, but socially and sexually as well. Her photo Grande Odalisque 2 (2008) is a direct response to Ingres’ iconic painting, La Grande Odalisque (1814), which is recognized for its beauty and exoticism- the key elements of Orientalism. While Ingres’ painting lures the viewer into a tale of silks and sex, Essaydi looks to correct the Western fantasy of Orientalism through a photographic retelling that strips away the exoticized characteristics of Ingres’ painting while simultaneously recreating the image. After examining her collection Les Femmes du Maroc, I argue that Essaydi does not subvert Orientalist themes enough, and that she engages in a neo-Orientalism that is a consequence of a globalized art world, which places a stress on the artist to appeal to a broader, international audience. Essaydi uses Moroccan women as her models and reclaims a space that was arrogated by the French artist; however, her collection title is in French rather than Arabic. In addition, the “femme du Maroc,” or Moroccan woman, that she depicts is still one of fantasy. The women’s skin, and the cream colored fabric that drapes their bodies, are covered in Arabic writing done in henna. They blend into a matching background, creating a monochromatic image. While her work provides a platform in which the Orientalist narrative is questioned, she engages with more than she subverts this discourse which conveys a still-present colonial legacy that thrives in previously colonized places- in this case, Morocco.