When Najaf Shokri stumbled upon discarded identification documents in a dumpster outside the Iranian Civil Registration Organization, he didn’t just see old paper. He saw an erased history. These IDs, filled with photographs of women born in the early 1940s and taken in their youth, became the foundation for Irandokht—a deeply personal and political project that turns forgotten faces into a story of resistance, memory, and culture.
“My aim with Irandokht is to remind my compatriots of the women of past generations whose identities were erased when their IDs were discarded,” Shokri states.
For Shokri, the images are not just about fashion or aesthetics. They raise uncomfortable questions about memory and erasure. “When I found these images in 2005-6, I wondered: Have these individuals passed away? Did they not renew their IDs? Or did they migrate? To me, it seemed likely that the government was attempting to erase recent memories of the past. These photos, which clash with the dominant culture today, were incompatible with the narrative. Anything inconsistent had to be removed. I was shocked at how easily and without regret they destroyed the records of their own society.”
Irandokht transcends its role as a photography project. By stripping away names and personal details, Shokri transforms these discarded IDs into symbols of a generation’s diversity, individuality, and resilience. The photographs show a wide range of styles and attitudes—poised gazes, elegant coiffures, striking makeup—capturing not just the women but the social dynamics of their time.
The project is a meditation on identity and the fragility of memory, a challenge to the forces that seek to erase the past. Through Irandokht, Shokri reminds us that even in the face of cultural shifts and political pressures, the essence of a generation can be rediscovered, reimagined, and reclaimed.
As Shokri puts it, “These images aren’t just documents of individuals—they’re reflections of a society, a way of life, and a history that refuses to be forgotten.”