Tahmineh Monzavi

Tahmineh Monzavi () is an Iranian photographer. Her works have been exhibited in museums in several countries, and published by international art magazines and books. She received the Sheed Award in 2011.
Biography.
Monzavi received a bachelor's degree in photography from Azad Art & Architecture University of Tehran. In 2005, she began her professional career as a documentary photographer, with a focus on social issues. In 2009, she made a long documentary film about a group of addicted women who live in a shelter in south of Tehran. She follows the younger generation of Iranian society to document the social conflicts among them.
In 2011 she received the prestigious Sheed Award, an independent, non-profit, private photography award. This award is given to a social documentary photographer each year, and is the only Iranian photography competition to have internationally qualified members.
Her works have also been published in several international art magazines and books such as Internazionale, the British Journal of Photography, Le Figaro, L'oeil de la photographie, Alternatives History, La photographie Iranienne, and the exhibition Iran unedited history 1960-2014 published by Muse D'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris.
Her photographs have also been exhibited in several museums around the world, such as the Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris, and the Literature museum of Georgia. In the series called "The brides of Mokhber alDowleh," Monzavi told the story of works of art done by a group of men. This series has been shown in Silkroad art Gallery in Tehran, as well as in Paris, Rome, Vienna, Boston and South Korea. She has also done a project on Transsexualism, which addresses how a minority within traditional Iranian society yearns for and attempts to find wider social acceptance and recognition. Monzavi’s vision was changed after a month of being imprisoned; she began looking at Iranian society differently. After a year of inactivity, she began to work on a project called "All about me; nicknamed Queen maker" in which she covers deep feelings of womanhood and womanly dreams.
Tahmineh Monzavi is also known for the length of her projects. Since the beginning of her career, she has worked on her subject matters over a long period of time. She believes the time gives her the opportunity to observe the details of a topic, and time to evaluate what happens around the subject matter. She is currently working on a long interval project of photo stories about the younger generation and women of Iran, as well as in various cities in Afghanistan.
Solo and group exhibitions.
Vito Acconci, Cecil Beaton, Tom Burr, Gilbert & George, Symrin Gill, Nan Goldin, Peter Hujar, Louise Lawler, Urs Lüthi, Tahmineh Monzavi, Adam Rzepecki, Jeff Wall, Gillian Wearing, James Welling
in Sammlung Verbund Gallery, Vienna, November 2014 - March 2015