Mahboube Karamli – Playtime

Mahboube Karamli (b. 1985, Tehran) is a photographer and educator whose work explores the visibility, identity, and transformation of women in both private and public spaces. With a documentary approach rooted in long-term engagement, she captures intimate portraits that reflect the personal and social transitions of her subjects.
She holds a BA in Photography from Azad University (Tehran, 2009) and an MA in Photography from the University of Art in Tehran (2021). Since 2009, she has also taught photography at various institutions, including Manzoumeh Kherad Institute and Farzanegan High Schools. Her close engagement with students has significantly shaped her artistic perspective, particularly in her focus on youth, education, and the representation of women.
Her major photographic series trace the evolving relationship between young women and their environments. In Girls, she portrayed teenagers in the intimacy of their bedrooms, centering the bed as a personal and expressive space. Wakefulness expanded this into a visual study of beauty and self-perception among her generation.