Zanjir is a conversation imagined between the artist Amak Mahmoodian and the Persian princess and memoirist Taj Saltaneh (1883–1936). In Zanjir, Mahmoodian draws on imagery from the King's collection from the nineteenth century, held at the Golestan archives in Tehran, and on photographs she took in Iran, to explore feelings of loss and separation from family and homeland. Through memories and dreams, Zanjir mythifies absence and presence: the present which continuously exists in the past, and the past which continuously exists in the present. Mahmoodian, an Iranian artist long resident in Bristol, completed a practice-based doctorate in photography at the University of South Wales after previously studying at the Art University of Tehran. Her work questions Western notions of identity, expressing personal stories that pertain to wider social issues and drawing on her experiences in the Middle East, Asia and the West. Her previous project, Shenasnameh, won widespread critical acclaim; Zanjir won the Photo/Texte award at Les Rencontres d'Arles in 2020.