Viewing Room

Either pastel coloured, black and white, poetic or documentary and direct, these seven diverse artists' individual perspectives on Iranian society go beyond stereotypes. Their powerful works range from examining personal relationships to exploring multi-layered social and cultural changes and political legacies in the multi-ethnic state of Iran. 

They are a special portrayal of the pain and pleasure, longings and aspirations of different generations in Iran undergoing radical change.

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The title of the exhibition is inspired by the poetry collection Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season by the Iranian poet and filmmaker Forough Farrokhzad. The poetry of this iconic artist was the poetry of protest – protest through revealing the innermost world of women. Poetry and Art in Iran are not just documentation of history but an influential component of Iranian culture.

Mahdoube Karamli

Born in 1985, Mahdoube Karamli earned her master’s degree in photography from the University of Art. Since 2009, she has been teaching photography at the Manzoumeh Kherad Institute and other prestigious schools in Tehran. Her projects focus on women and their presence in private and public spaces through a documentary approach. Her passion for capturing her surroundings developed during her teaching work and culminated in the End of Class series, which portrays elementary school students playing with their shadows in dim light.

Sina Shiri

Born in 1991, Sina Shiri is a Tehran-based photographer. His works have been showcased at international photography festivals, including Photoville (2015, New York), Les Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles (2017, France), Cité Internationale des Arts (2019, Paris), and the Middle East Now Festival (2020, Bologna).

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Tahmineh Monzavi

Born in 1988, Tahmineh Monzavi began her career as a documentary photographer and received the Sheed Award for excellence in social documentary photography. Her works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the MAXXI Museum in Rome, and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Monzavi’s works have also been published in magazines such as The New York Times, Internazionale, Parismatch, and the British Journal of Photography. Several photography books feature her works, including La Photographie Iranienne (published by LOCO) and Iran unedited history 1960–2014 (published by Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris).

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Hashem Shakeri

Born in 1988, Hashem Shakeri is an artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in Tehran. He discovered photography during his adolescence and honed his skills through years of trial and error before beginning his professional career in 2010. Shakeri has received numerous awards and exhibited internationally, including at Rencontres d’Arles, Paris Photo, and Visa pour l’Image. His works have been featured in leading publications such as The New Yorker, Sunday Times, National Geographic, and the British Journal of Photography.

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Shayan Sajadian

Born in 1991, Shayan Sajadian is a photographer based in Shiraz. With a degree in architecture, he has been photographing since 2016. His first long-term project focused on drug addiction in Shiraz’s historic districts, a project that spanned three years. He is currently working on a series about crime in Iran. His photographs have appeared in The New Yorker and GQ, among others.

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Ghazaleh Rezaei

Born in 1990, Ghazaleh Rezaei is an Iranian photographer and PhD candidate in Art Studies at the University of Tehran. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, her work explores new narratives within Iranian photography, contextualizing its conventions and aesthetics through Iranian cultural lenses. Rezaei’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, and she currently teaches as an adjunct at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran.

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Alborz Kazemi

Born in 1989, Alborz Kazemi studied painting at Tehran’s School of Fine Arts. After graduation, his interest shifted toward photography and cinema, leading him to develop primarily photography-based works. Kazemi’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions such as at the No. 6 Gallery (2010, Tehran) and several group shows.