08/19/2026
Despite facing censorship, surveillance, and societal restrictions, Iranian women photographers have gained international recognition. Their work captures both everyday life and moments of protest. For , Yara celebrates the work of three artists who use their cameras to document, challenge, and inspire:
For over two decades, Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery has documented protests, women’s lives and political unrest in the country. She has been arrested multiple times, including during the protests. Yalda has received awards such as the IWMF Courage in Journalism and Wallis Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists awards. Last month, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison after she was again arrested following the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict in 2025.
A self-taught photographer, Newsha Tavakolian began working professionally in the Iranian press at the age of 16, at women’s daily newspaper Zan. She was the youngest photographer to cover the 1999 student uprising, which was a turning point for the country’s blossoming reformist movement and for her personally as a photojournalist. She has worked internationally, covering wars, natural disasters, and social documentary stories. Her work focuses on women's issues, and she has been a member of the Rawiya women's photography collective which she co-established in 2011.
Parisa Azadi is an Iranian-Canadian visual journalist and storyteller with a keen interest in history and conflict, memory and displacement. Since 2015, Parisa has been working in the Middle East, examining the nuanced dynamics of communities living in the aftermath of political violence. In January 2026, after state massacres and executions in Iran, Parisa began burning the instax prints as an act of mourning. Fire scarred their surfaces, echoing the violence they depict.
