As a modern Muslim woman living in Iran, Shadi Ghadirian takes photographs that exaggerate the customs of her Iranian culture and the archaic stereotypes it places upon contemporary women. After receiving her bachelor's degree from Azad University in Tehran, Ghadirian was faced with contradictions and preconceptions regarding her role as a woman in society; she began to photograph friends and family in staged portraits that addressed female identity, censorship, gender roles, and geopolitics. With humor and irony, Ghadirian has depicted women reduced to their typecasts, typically housewives draped in veils and with their faces replaced by household items—pots, pans, brooms, and meat cleavers.