"We are stuck between tradition and modernity"

Iran, despite its image abroad as a repressive society, has a flourishing civil society and an even more lively arts scene. One of contemporary Iran's luminaries is Shadi Ghadirian, a woman photographer who is known for her Qajar series that depict the Iranian woman with certain modern objects but in a setting similar to those found in 19th century photos in Iran. “My pictures became a mirror reflecting how I felt: we are stuck between tradition and modernity,” she said in an interview to NYT. The report also claims that there are many pictures of nude women that have been stashed away in a vault since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Here is a detailed interview with Shadi.

A 19th century photograph of the king's wives from Tehran's Golestan Palace Museum

Some of Shadi's works