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TRAVEL AND DOCUMENTARY

Meanwhile, in Iran.

A photographic book from a trip that contradicted everything I expected of the country. The warmth of the people, the hospitality, the curious onlooking on the streets: unmatched in any of my travels.

A wide stretch of water with birds on it, trees and low hills beyond
The same riverbed, dry and cracked, a line of trees along the far bank
Seen from inside a yellow taxi, a man in a white shirt standing at a shopfront
A framed photograph of a man on a wooden door, beside notices and a guide-book price list
Through a car windscreen, a man standing on the bonnet of a parked car, an arcaded bridge behind
The long brick arcade of a bridge receding into haze, people walking its length
A public square with lawns, women in black chadors walking, a domed tiled mosque beyond
A small girl in a tan coat eating, a woman in a black chador beside her at the roadside
Low sun across a wet square, a family crossing it, horse-drawn carriages waiting
A man standing in his brightly lit food shop, Persian signage above the counter
A wide dry riverbed seen from above, a small blue truck on the sand, cars parked along the road
The city from above: apartment blocks, low houses and a highway running through
An empty highway curving through bare mountains
A yellow bus at the kerb below bank signage in Persian script
A tiled mosque portal at the edge of a large paved square, a man sitting on the low wall
People sitting at tables on the riverbank beneath the arches of a long stone bridge
A man standing in a brick corridor of receding arches
A woman holding a small child in a blue hat, framed in an arch of the bridge, water beyond
A couple holding a child in a square, a group of women in chadors nearby, market stalls behind
A stall hung with rows of coloured plastic sandals, a woman in a headscarf in front of it
An elderly man in a cardigan drinking tea from a saucer
A man in a flat cap leaning on the bonnet of a blue car in a busy street
The city spread out below the mountains in haze
The inside of a tiled dome, light falling through its windows

About

Esfahan and Teheran, Iran, 2011

Journey

Meanwhile, in Iran is a photographic book with images I took while on a trip to Iran. The experience I’ve had of the country challenged my beliefs, stereotypes and everything I expected of the Middle Eastern country. The warmth of the people, the hospitality and friendliness, their excitement and curious onlooking on the streets remain all unmatched to any of my travels. In spite of what the internet and media had me believe as a young impressionable person, the nuclear scaremongering and the idea that Iran is somehow hostile to foreigners, my own personal journey contradicted everything I felt and experienced in Iran.

The trip to Iran took place while I was a photography student in London (Uni of Westminster), and I later used the series as one of my photography assignments as an opportunity to do my first photographic book. I had taken hundreds of photos with my semi entry-level DSLR (the regret is that I didn’t have better equipment with me). The editing process lasted around two months until I had settled on a number, series and precise order that I would often obsess and talk about with my tutor and colleagues. It was the first time I actually used InDesign so everything was new to me: the software, the art of editing your own work and the print process. I only printed one copy to have and to hold in my hands, but the whole experience gave me so much more.

The photographic book focuses on the everyday mundane in the Persian country as an antidote to the political unrest and diplomatic conflicts often depicted in the media. The everyday life of Iranian people and its simple truth was an absent concept from the collective consciousness. The photographs presented in the series are detached from widespread Arabic turmoil and focus on the country’s everyday slowly unfolding spirit. I visited Iran in the spring of 2011 and it was truly a life-changing opportunity for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to visit Iran again, but if there’s a chance, I’d go in a heartbeat. More of this series can be found in the Meanwhile, in Iran photographic book, currently being re-edited to reflect the experience of my years as a designer.

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