Newsha Tavakolian

Newsha Tavakolian is an Iranian photographer, visual artist, educator, and member of Magnum Photos. Born in Tehran in 1981, she began working as a photojournalist at the age of sixteen and has since developed a practice that moves between documentary photography and more personal, conceptual work. Her photographs often deal with the human condition, the lives of women in Iran and beyond, political restriction, conflict, memory, and the emotional weight of history.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including projects such as Listen, Look, Blank Pages of an Iranian Photo Album, For the Sake of Calmness, and And They Laughed at Me. According to her exhibition history, And They Laughed at Me has been shown in Milan, Tehran, Yerevan, and Sarajevo.

Tavakolian’s work is held in major public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She has received several international awards and recognitions, including the Prince Claus Award, the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award, and the Joop Swart Masterclass. (Website, Instagram, Facebook)