GHOSTS IN EXILE

Ghosts in Exile is primarily an analog photography project tracing land and memory across Oregon and Iraq. Shot on medium format film, I move as a veiled body through landscapes that echo my homeland, exploring beauty, identity, and exposure. The hijab conceals and reveals, while faces shift and blur. Through darkroom processes, the work questions what is visible, what is hidden, and how power shapes both.

Recently, I heard the Iranian actor Golshifteh Farahani speak about exile. She said “To me, exile is like having a tomb within, and it doesn't move. It's grief that never changes. When you grieve a loved one, you conceal their grave with flowers. I carry this scar, this heavy feeling of not being able to go back home. At the same time, the grave is there, but I can no longer find it. I have planted so many flowers, I don't see the grave. But it’s still there. Exile is a form of grief you never forget.”

Her words stayed with me - they echo the emotional terrain this work seeks to navigate.