Hoda Afshar is an Iranian-born photographer.

She has smuggled her camera under a false bottom in her suitcase to take pictures of stateless men detained on the PNG island by Australia’s harsh border protection laws. She has chronicled the extraordinary bravery and theatre of the female-led uprising in Iran.

The mission behind her lens? "To bring the identities of the individuals into focus.”

Ahead of her first exhibition at the AGNSW Afshar is using the power of photography to dramatically bring into focus some of humanity’s most profound struggles.