Skip to main content
Regional secretary with the National Education Union
My camera is my weapon
Three internationally renowned female photographers, whose work combines visual innovation, aesthetic brilliance and militancy, talk to JOHN GREEN
Images: Maryam Firuzi; Nowhere Near, Alisa Martynova [Maryam Firuzi; Alisa Martynova]

THEY come from different countries — Iran, Afghanistan and Russia — and each has their own unique way of expressing themselves, but what they have in common is their militancy and commitment to female emancipation and social justice.

Their powerful images are at present on show at the Festival of LaGacilly/Baden — Europe’s biggest open-air photography festival.

Thirty-seven-year-old Iranian Maryam Firuzi did not set out to become a photographer. She has a degree in calligraphy and film studies, has studied art, literature and architecture. Today, she sees herself as an artist rather than “just” a photographer. 

Pearl in the oyster, Fatimah Hossaini
The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
earthquakes
Books / 18 July 2025
18 July 2025

JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America

metamorf
Exhibition review / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025

JOHN GREEN is stirred by an ambitious art project that explores solidarity and the shared memory of occupation

PARRIQUE
Books / 20 June 2025
20 June 2025

JOHN GREEN applauds an excellent and accessible demonstration that the capitalist economy is the biggest threat to our existence

abundance
Books / 12 June 2025
12 June 2025

JOHN GREEN isn’t helped by the utopian fantasy of a New York Times bestseller that ignores class struggle and blames the so-called ’progressives’

Similar stories
(L to R) How many Aunties?, Back Hares Mount, Leeds, 1978; M
Photography / 14 April 2025
14 April 2025

Peter Mitchell's photography reveals a poetic relationship with Leeds

Consuelo Kanaga. Young Girl in Profile, 1948.
Books / 3 October 2024
3 October 2024
JOHN GREEN marvels at the rediscovery of a radical US photographer who took the black civil rights movement to her heart
A panel from the Palestinian History Tapestry
Exhibition Review / 1 October 2024
1 October 2024
MARJORIE MAYO recommends an exhibition that asserts Palestinian history, culture and creativity in the face of strategies to erase them
(L) A resident of Burnthouse Lane estate; (R) Derek, a homel
Books / 6 August 2024
6 August 2024
JOHN GREEN appreciates two photobooks that study the single room of a homeless hostel resident, and a council estate in Exeter