Sheida Soleimani's Ghostwriter Series Explores Iranian Diaspora Through Symbolic Photography

Artist Sheida Soleimani discusses her photographic series Ghostwriter, which examines themes of Iranian diaspora, political refuge, and familial history through surreal imagery. The series features works from 2021 to 2026, with exhibitions represented by galleries including Edel Assanti in London, Harlan Levey Projects in Brussels, and Yancey Richardson in New York. Soleimani explains that her artistic practice is deeply influenced by her parents' experiences as political refugees from Iran. Her mother was a nurse who cared for animals after immigrating to the United States, while her father remains politically active. These childhood memories of caretaking and political trauma inform her visual language. In Ghostwriter, subjects remain anonymous to protect her parents' identities and to critique colonial photographic traditions like phrenology and physiognomy. The series incorporates animals as autonomous beings rather than symbols, rejecting anthropocentric interpretations. Soleimani uses props as part of a symbolic lexicon to construct narratives about historical events. One work references the ancient Persian game Snakes and Ladders as a metaphor for the precarious journeys of refugees. Another piece features her father's life motto from an ancient Persian poem: 'We are the wave whose comfort is our demise,' interpreted as 'comfort equals death.' The artist aims to challenge photography's historical dominance by straight white men and bring attention to current conditions in Iran, where internet shutdowns and political repression persist. Her work seeks to convey stories that cannot cross national borders due to governmental restrictions.