Women play the absolute starring role in her shots: Damnabi both illustrates and pays tribute to the Iranian female identity, which is shown here in the routine of women, mothers and workers ignored by a strictly patriarchal society, which is so late to recognise their equality, value, and freedom.

Many of the photographs on display highlight issues such as discrimination against women in the labour market, the gender gap in salaries, and the failure to recognise their silent contribution to key sectors of the Iranian economy and craft industry (such as the harvesting of saffron in the fields of Torbat-e Heydarieh or the production of carpets).

In her Lost Paradise series, female figures are portrayed from behind in front of a traditional Persian rug and appear to blend in – and almost merge – with the background, a metaphor for both their optical and social invisibility.

Some of her most famous reportage, which is both poetic and dramatic, is dedicated to children and has the dual purpose not only of showing the difficulties of a childhood spent in this country, but also the ability – typical of youngsters – to find magic even in the most adverse circumstances because, as the emblematic title of one of her projects reminds us, Playing is my right.

Women, children and teenagers also crowd the shots in her Metamorphosis series: a veritable collection of suspended moments, scenes of everyday life, rituals, garments and emblematic traditions of Iran. With her recent project Be like a Butterfly, the artist documents the attempt made by the younger generations of women to improve their condition, marking changes so slow and tardy that they seem imperceptible, comparing them to the same metamorphosis that chrysalides undergo to become butterflies.