Look

In the series Look, Newsha Tavakolian staged photographs in her Tehran apartment based on stories told by her friends and neighbors in the high-rise building, where she had lived for over a decade. This cohort represented a generation of Iranian youth who had grown increasingly frustrated with their cultural and political isolation. Through the series, Tavakolian aimed to show “the middle class in Iran that is never shown . . . whose lives are defined by the state’s morals and regulations.”

Tavakolian, a self-taught photographer, began working at age 16 for Zan, an Iranian weekly newspaper focused on women’s rights, and eventually joined the Magnum photo agency. After the Iranian elections of 2009 sparked significant opposition protests, photojournalists came under increasing scrutiny. Tavakolian undertook independent projects, like Look, to address political and social topics in her home country.