Women.life.freedom

This photography series began after the tragic murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian government in September, which sparked the "woman.life.freedom" revolution. I started taking photos of the protests that were happening here in the Netherlands, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and The Hague. Eventually, I even traveled to Berlin to attend the biggest Iranian protest against the government since the revolution in 1979.

I felt connected to these protests. Even though I had promised myself that I wouldn't think about Iran when I migrated, it was hard to ignore what was happening there. These protests were a chance for me to capture the history and share it with the world as a documentary photographer. And I was grateful for the opportunity to do so without fear of getting arrested or risking my life.

I even submitted my photos to the World Press Photo contest, but unfortunately, I wasn't nominated. But that's okay because I faced another fear of mine by simply entering the contest.

The revolution had a big impact on my mental health, though. I've struggled with depression in the past, and working on this project brought up a lot of difficult emotions for me. So, I decided to step back from the protests and social media for a couple of months to focus on my mental health and studies. Unfortunately, that meant the photo series had to come to an end for now.

Another result of this revolution and the project was the EYE film project that I did for the program which you can read about in another article.