The Somayeh video belongs to a series memorializing Tavakolian’s peers, a cohort born in the shadow of the 1979
Islamic Revolution and the long Iraq War (1980–1988) and which came of age during the short-lived period of reformist president
Mohammad Khatami (1997–2005), when surreptitious satellite TV and the internet introduced foreign notions and awakened the
possibilities of being part of a wider world. Shot in Tehran, where the artist lives and works, each video concentrates on a single
individual holding still while the surrounding environment and the focus of the camera lens changes. Here, Somayeh suggests the
resilience and strength of the first post-revolutionary generation while presciently alluding to today’s young Iranian women as they
attempt to reshape their futures. Newsha Tavakolian is a self-taught photographer and photojournalist who has achieved international recognition through her body of documentary work, which provides sharp insight into contemporary Iranian society.
