Maryam Ashrafi

Born in Tehran in 1982 during the Iran-Iraq war, Maryam’s passion for sociology led her to focus her interest on social and political issues. After graduating with a BA in Social Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport, UK, she began to explore these issues in different regions, with a particular focus on the situation of Kurds in Kurdistan. For several years, she has been working on various subjects including refugees in Paris and the mobilization of the Kurdish and Iranian diaspora. Above all, as an independent freelance photographer, she covered the aftermath of the war in Northern Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, notably in Kobane and Sinjar during numerous visits until 2018. Her work on Kurdistan has been the subject of several collective and solo exhibitions and publications including the Guardian. Her long-term work on Kurdish issues has also led her to work as a camerawoman for documentaries such as I Am The Revolution (2018) and to direct and shoot her upcoming documentary in Iraq and Syria.