Women behind the lens: After state massacres, I began burning the prints as an act of mourning'

"Using open-source protest footage, I began isolating frames from videos circulating on social media and photographing them directly from my computer with a Fujifilm instax camera, which can produce prints immediately. I wanted to interrupt the relentless flow of digital images to arrest their movement, turning ephemeral pixels into solid physical objects."

"During the uprising, that same ethic took on new urgency, transforming the medium into a response to rebellion and censorship. In the face of terror and repression, the body becomes the primary battlefield."

"This image comes from a protest video in Tehran: crowds circle a fire burning in the street, holding hands and chanting, You're the pervert. You're the whore. I'm a free woman, transforming misogynistic insults into defiance against the state."

In September 2022, the Iranian revolution unfolded amid internet blackouts, prompting the artist to document the events from Dubai. Utilizing open-source protest footage, the artist isolated frames and photographed them with a Fujifilm instax camera, creating tangible prints from ephemeral digital images. This process evolved from previous work in Iran, where small keepsakes were given as records of intimacy. The act of photographing became a response to rebellion, emphasizing the body as a battlefield against state repression and transforming misogynistic insults into defiance.

Read at www.theguardian.com