Women in Mirrors

If photography preserves memory and transforms it into history, what happens in places where images remain unrecorded due to rigid traditions and religious taboos? How can art amplify voices that are systematically silenced?
This project is dedicated to women whose art and talent have granted them neither official recognition nor an informal platform—women whose stories risk fading into the unwritten margins of history. It seeks to carve out a space for their voices before they vanish entirely.
During my first trip to Balochistan, I encountered a poignant contradiction. Despite possessing extraordinary skill in needlework—a craft celebrated as one of Iran’s most iconic handicrafts—Baloch women remained invisible: their faces unknown, their stories untold. Even as their artistry adorned homes and museums, their own identities were erased.
When my attempts to photograph them were refused, I returned with a different approach. I printed photographs of their surroundings—scenes from their cities, landscapes, and daily life—onto fabric. I then handed each piece to a woman, asking her to reinterpret the image through her own needlework.
In doing so, they stitch presence into the void. Their embroidery becomes a quiet but defiant act, rejecting the normalization of their own erasure and reclaiming the narrative, thread by thread.
Special thanks to Touran Borhani, who took over the management of the women's needlework team.