Tahmineh Monzavi

Born in Tehran in 1988, Tahmineh Monzavi is a photographer whose work combines documentary practice with a personal, artistic vision. She began working as a documentary photographer in 2005 and has developed a distinctive approach marked by honesty, empathy and close attention to her environment and her time.

In 2007–2008, with the series Guilty or Innocent, she turned her lens to marginalised communities in Tehran, including transgender people and homeless women, whose lives often remain hidden from public view. Without judgement, her images reveal the hardships of their daily existence while restoring their dignity and individuality, inviting viewers to look beyond preconceptions.

The series Brides of Mokhber al-Dowleh, made during the same period, explores the everyday life of a working-class community. In the workshops of south Tehran, Monzavi photographs the men who sew wedding gowns. The contrast between the pure white of the dresses, symbol of traditional dreams, and the rough hands of the tailors who stitch them creates images of quiet wonder and contemplation.