Newsha Tavakolian (photo by Arash Ashouriniya)

Newsha Tavakolian, a self-taught photographer, says her success has no bearing on her gender.

Newsha Tavakolian, an established photojournalist and art photographer, started her experimental career at 16. After a while she pursued it professionally in Iranian and foreign media. Two decades on, her social recognition and awareness has catapulted her into the ranks of the outstanding photographers.

Zanan-e Emrooz magazine released an interview with Newsha in its 7th issue (December 2014) about her career and life. The following is a partial translation of the interview:

Why did you pick photography? Was anybody in your family who did photography?

At first I knew nothing about photojournalism. I did it for money. My parents were in Germany for my dad’s surgery, and my siblings and I were in Iran. Apart from financial problems, I found the education system annoying. Later I learned that I was…