Pani stands high on a hill between a dry, dying bush, and lush green shrubbery. The varying green landscape in the foreground contrasts against the sprawling cityscape of Tehran in the background, which appears frozen except for a few cars that slowly drive along the highway. Pani remains motionless as the wind rustles her scarf and the nearby litter in tandem. The otherwise static scene is accompanied by a soundtrack of chirping birds and other sounds of nature that bring the scene into the present. Pani is one of six people featured in the series Blank Pages, which is an album of photographs and videos created by Newsha Tavakolian to memorialize a group of single, thirty-something men and women who are a part of her generation in Iran; alongside Pani, videos of Mehdi (M.2019.32.3) and Somayeh (M.2019.32.1) are also in LACMA’s collection. The main figure remains motionless in each of the videos, staring into the camera as they withstand the changing elements and floating debris of their surrounding environments with only the focus of the camera lens slowly, subtly shifting. The videos, all shot in Iran, embody the difficulties and disappointments of a generation born in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. Newsha Tavakolian is a self-taught documentary photographer and photojournalist who began working in the Iranian press at the age of 16. Her documentary work has achieved international acclaim for her acute observations of Iranian society. After her award-winning essay “Women in the Axis of Evil” (2006) in response to George W. Bush’s characterization of Iran, much of Tavakolian’s work has been about correcting narrow understandings of women in Iran. Tavakolian lives and works in Tehran.