Maryam Zandi: Photographer
Maryam Zandi is a renowned Iranian photographer, based in Tehran. During her acclaimed career, Maryam has published more than ten books of her photographic works, most notably the ongoing Portraits series. After the 1979 Revolution, she began capturing portraits of Artists that were being blacklisted by the government to preserve the memory of Iranian artists for future generations. To date, Maryam has published five volumes of Portraits, creating in the process an extensive photographic archive of many of Iran's most famous and influential contemporary elites in the fields of literature, visual arts, cinema, theater, and music.
In 2010 she was awarded the “First Degree Medal of Art” from President Ahmadinejad; however, she refused to accept the medal in protest at the lack of freedom and professional dignity experienced by photographers in Iran at the time. In the same year, she received an independent award (the “Sheed Award”) as the most influential photographer of the year for supporting the rights of Iranian photographers.
Maryam Zandi continues to be recognized as one of the most influential photographers in Iran and for her persistent effort to champion the rights of Photographers.