Shadi Ghadirian

Miss Butterfly 2011 by Shadi Ghadirian

Born in 1974 in Tehran, Iran,  Shadi Ghadirian challenges the ideas of women’s roles within an Islamic state through her photographs. She takes her photographs from her own experience as a modern women living within the ancient codes of Shariah law. After graduating from Azad University, she discovered her career accidentally. After noticing that her first two series subjects were women, she continued to pursue a women series. She would dress women in nineteenth-century Qajar style outfits and add a twist on the idea of the modern world around them. The idea of juxtapositions and contrasts, with items such as a newspaper, pepsi-cola can and an iron show the confusion women in Iran face, torn between tradition and the modernity of globalization making it hard for women to see what era they live in. Her work questions women in today’s society and the everyday problems they face. The day after day routine of your typical “Iran” women, Ghadirian wants to challenge that typical idea and show women and the world that they have more to offer then what everyone assumes them too. To view her latest work, click here.