Laurence Rasti

Laurence Rasti was born in 1990 to Iranian parents in Switzerland. She studied photography at ECAL – University of Art and Design Lausanne (BA, 2014) and fine arts at HEAD – Geneva University of Art and Design (MA, 2019). Her projects often explore issues surrounding identity, visibility, legitimacy and representation. Drawing from the duality of her own cultural background, she examines Swiss and Iranian cultural codes and conventions in order to understand the influence of gender roles in society. The consequences of migration or the non-respect of fundamental rights is another strong focus of many of her recent projects. 

Her book There Are No Homosexuals in Iran (Edition Patrick Frey, 2017) was shortlisted for the Paris Photo Aperture First Photobook Award, the Author Book Award of Rencontres d’Arles, and nominated as one of the 10 best photobooks of 2017 by the New York Times Magazine. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions around the world, including ReGeneration3 at Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Disruptive Perspectives at Museum of Contemporary in Chicago and Photoforum Pasquart in Biel, Iran Contemporary at Fotohof Art Gallery in Austria, and several festivals including PhotoKatmandu, Athens Photo Festival and Tokyo International Photography Festival. She was the laureate of the Photographic Survey of the City of Geneva in 2019, and of the Photographic Survey of Canton Neuchâtel in 2022.