Shadi Ghadirian, Iranian Photographer

Shadi Ghadirian is one of Iran's most prominent contemporary photographers, and one of its few renowned female photographers. This introductory monograph includes images from five of her thought-provoking and visually captivating series on Iranian female identity. The collection opens with her Untitled Qajar series from the late '90s, described by Ghadirian as depicting women's acts “of rebellion, of subtlety, of changes foreseen.” The images portray her sisters, friends and neighbors dressed and photographed in the style of women of the 19th-century Qajar court yet holding 20th-century objects: a can of Pepsi, a boom box, a vacuum cleaner. Ghadirian's dramatic Like Every Day series follows: the women, dressed in vibrant chadors, appear as faceless subjects whose identity has become a domestic object: in place of one's face is a teapot, in place of another's, a frying pan. A powerful array of images, as intellectually stimulating as they are aesthetically stunning, illustrating how boldly photography can grapple with issues of gender and national identity, preceded by an illuminating and highly informative introductory essay by curator Issa. (May)