Welcome to Marzieh Kavosi Photography
At Marzieh Kavosi Photography, we believe in capturing the true essence of every woman's power and inner story through our unique conceptual photography.
Art Exhibition
Resisting Through Aesthetics: Conceptual Photography Under Oppression
Project Description:
This conceptual photography project, set in the historical Golestan Palace, explores the intersection of history, power, and the identity of Iranian women within a royal architectural context. The use of black masculine clothing, gloves, and an empty frame serves as symbolic elements representing absence, silence, and the search for identity. By positioning the subject within the grandeur of a historical setting, the series highlights the contrast between traditional authority and the silenced voices of contemporary Iranian women. The aim of this project is to create a visual dialogue about women’s rights, resistance against oppression, and the role of art in social storytelling. This collection represents a part of my journey as a female artist committed to using conceptual photography to portray deep human and social messages.
Resisting Through Aesthetics: Conceptual Photography Under Oppression
17 march 2025
Silent Frame, Unseen Gaze
In this image, I stand in Golestan Palace, dressed in a black men’s suit, holding up an empty frame. Behind me looms the portrait of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, a ruler whose reign is deeply intertwined with censorship, patriarchy, and the historical silencing of women in Iran.
The frame is not a mirror.There is no reflection.
It is a symbol of absence — the centuries-long erasure of women from the official narrative of power.
But now, the frame is in my hands.
I confront his gaze not with fear, but with silent defiance.
This is a reclaiming of visibility — a woman stepping into the void history left behind.
In the Shadow of Conquest, in the Cage of Woman
Here, I stand beneath the portrait of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, whose reign was marked by lavish aesthetics and tragic geopolitical losses. This time, I raise the empty frame higher — a red ribbon cuts across the middle, symbolizing not absence, but interruption.
The frame is still empty.
But now it speaks.
It slices through the royal image, asserting the presence of women once kept in the margins.
This red line is the wound of history — from the Qajar court to the restrictions of the Islamic Republic.
And I, a woman of today, stand between them, holding the frame not to reflect but to resist.
The Frame Without a Face
I hold an empty frame —
not to glorify the king behind it,
but to question the history he represents.
Dressed in a man’s suit,
I stand in the halls where women were once forbidden,
where their presence was framed,
but never honored.
My clenched fist speaks louder than his medals.
The red ribbon across the frame
is not decoration —
it’s silence imposed,
and resistance declared.
This is not a portrait of power —
it is a void.
A frame that could have held a woman’s face.
But history chose otherwise.
Now, I choose to hold it empty.
Throne Without a Queen, Frame Without a Face
Here, in the Hall of Mirrors, every surface reflects power — but not all power is seen.
I lift the empty frame toward the throne meant for the queen, now unoccupied.
In this ornate geometry of silence, only the space inside the frame remains in color —
a deliberate defiance of the grayscale past.
This is not absence; this is erasure.
The throne glows, yet its story is untold.
Women, once framed only as shadows or ornaments, are now framing history itself.
And I, cloaked in black, stand between glass and truth —
not to complete the picture, but to demand what was stolen.
The Time We Were Denied
I ascend the velvet stairs of Golestan Palace, dressed in black, stepping toward a hall once reserved for kings.
Below me, a frame lies on the steps, holding a clock — frozen in time, heavy with absence.
The palace gleams in gold, but the walls around me have faded to black and white.
This is not nostalgia.
This is a graveyard of forgotten voices — women erased from both space and memory.
But I move forward.
The clock marks no hour.
Because our time was never given —
It must be taken.
The Door Was Never Open for Me
I sit beneath the grand gate of Golestan Palace —
the entrance where kings passed,
where power was choreographed, framed, preserved.
But I am not a guest here.
I was never invited in.
The frame I hold is empty —
because my face, like countless others,
has been erased from history
before it was ever allowed to be written.
The door is closed.
Wrought iron curls into ornate silence,
but my body defies the design.
A woman in a man’s suit,
my head turned away,
my time bound again
by a red ribbon knotted like censorship.
Light falls only where I sit —
because even in darkness,
resistance casts its own sun.
They built these doors to last.
I use my body to outlast them.
The Frame of the Erased
I sit beneath the lavish tiles of Golestan Palace,
dressed in a black suit never meant for me —
not to become a man,
but to reclaim space stolen from women.
The red ribbon tied around my wrist
is not a flourish —
it’s a wound,
a memory of every silenced voice.
I hold up a frame,
not to reflect, but to reveal:
a hollow where my face should be.
An absence shaped by centuries
that chose to omit us.
At my feet, a broken clock wrapped in white —
time stopped,
time stolen,
time rewritten by those who refused to see us.
I do not hide behind this frame.
I confront through it.
Here, in a palace built on absence,
I exist —
not as muse, not as myth,
but as mirror,
asking:
what if we had never been erased?
Frame of Absence, Weight of Now
I walk beneath the mosaic shadows of Golestan Palace —
walls once built to silence women, now witness my defiance.
A black suit drapes my body, not as disguise, but as declaration.
The frame I carry is empty,
not by chance —
but by centuries of curated omission.
In my hand, a clock bleeds red.
Time, stolen.
Time, weaponized.
Time, denied to those who bleed yet remain unseen.
This is not nostalgia.
This is not mimicry.
This is confrontation.
They crowned kings where we were ghosted.
They carved marble for men,
and wrote history in our absence.
But I am not their absence.
I am the fracture.
A veiled woman in men's clothing —
not because I want their power,
but because mine was never lost,
only buried.
Here, in the palace of forgotten queens,
I walk — visible, vulnerable,
and unbearably real.
The Gaze Through the Silence
I stand beneath a ceiling of shattered light,
a thousand mirrors watching,
but none reflecting me.
In my hands — a black frame,
bound in red ribbon,
tied not in celebration,
but in captivity.
I wear a man’s suit,
not to disguise,
but to disturb the symmetry of erasure.
This palace once framed only kings.
Now, I frame the void.
The star above me
was never meant to guide women —
only to blind them with beauty.
But I look through it,
and I see everything they refused to show.
This is not a portrait.
It is a protest.
A woman, silenced by centuries,
now staring back.
The Clock Is Ticking, but Not for Me
\
I stand in front of the Marble Throne, once carved for Fath-Ali Shah Qajar —
a symbol of masculine power, ornate, elevated, and untouched.
In my hand, a black frame holds a grayscale echo of the same throne —
but this time, with a clock, and a red ribbon falling like a cut vein.
I cover my mouth with a disposable glove.
Not because I choose silence,
but because silence has been chosen for me.
I wear a suit, but the veil remains.
Time passes, yet nothing changes.
The throne has aged, rulers have shifted,
but women are still posed — framed, muted, restrained.
The ribbon, like history, binds and bleeds.
And I, a woman marked by this time and place,
stand as both witness and interruption.
“Working with Marzieh Kavosi Photography was a truly empowering experience. The photoshoot made me feel confident and showcased my strength in a beautiful way.”
[John Doe]
Contact us
For inquiries or bookings, please fill out the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Location
marzieh kavosi
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
About us
Marzieh Kavosi Photography is dedicated to empowering women through conceptual photography. Our mission is to capture the beauty and strength of every woman, showcasing their power and inner story through creative and captivating images.