Iran

Phantomas said:
RXMD - I went to Tehran, Yazd, Esfahan and places in between. The usual. I didn't want to overload myself with destination as I like to stick around places few days, getting to know them. Next time I plan going to the North around Caspian, look for a Georgian settlement central near Esfahan and, maybe most importantly, the Gulf. This is because the stories I've heard about Gulf people were amazing. And then... on the way out of Yazd I caught a glimpse of Her - an undoubtedly Gulf resident. What a sight that was! Without going into details it wouldn't be out of place in Starwars. Beautiful photo opportunity. If I don't fry in the sun.
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Good choices. I spent a bit of time in and around Bandar-i Abbas and Hormoz on the southern Gulf coast, and it is a remarkable place. You go to Hormoz in an open speedboat taxi piloted by a 15-year old, and when you're on the island it looks like Blackbeard's galleon should be appearing behind the mountain any moment. Well, except for the little whitewashed Sunni mosques and dark-skinned people speaking Arabic, of course. :)

The settlement you mean is probably Feridunshahr, where you see interesting things like this bilingual Muslim gravestone in Georgian and Arabic:

Grave-geo.jpg

(picture off Wikipedia)

It's a funny place. Expect to see a few Georgian tourists. :)
 
I've been in iran a year ago. The most memorable place was the city of Yazd and its medieval maze-like alleys and incredible hundreds od years old "air-conditioning system".
For the people, i really didn't expect that amount hospitality and kindness. I would definitely recommend visiting this country to anyone.

Sadly, i've been shooting just with the DSLR, so i hope i will visit the country again, this time with me beloved M8. :)
 
oh nooo, i was actually planning to travel to iran or morocco end of this year, was actually looking more towards morocco, now you got me thinking again.....

amazing pictures...
waiting for more..
 
Some wonderful work, really love the latest batch. How did you go about taking them, did you ask permission beforehand and if so, did anyone refuse?
 
Sikario said:
Some wonderful work, really love the latest batch. How did you go about taking them, did you ask permission beforehand and if so, did anyone refuse?
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Thanks. I'm "cursed" by the fact that I tend to interact with my subjects. Sometimes I'm there to shoot candid but end up talking to people. So yes, majority are with permission. Sometimes they are taken after a conversation (yes, with language barriers, but one can have a conversation without speaking the language), sometimes I raise the camera and give a nod and a smile. 90% of the time they were happy to be photographed. Contrary to popular belief Iranians are not scary people. Actually I was wondering around trying to find some of the famous "Iranian fanaticism", but instead was greeted with tea and sweets :)
 
Not to blow my own trumpet too much, you can check all other shots of Iran on my Flickr:

Iran Black Iran White

The set is still being updated and will be so for a couple of weeks. Somehow I'm ending up with a lot more shots than I originally intended, 200+ :eek:, so when I'm done with all of them I'll have to proceed with some heavy editing if I want this series to make any sense and be comprehensible in size.
Thanks for looking and any critique, especially as far as the selection goes, is welcome.

At the end I'd like to say that Iran is a wonderful, warm country that has showed me a great welcome. I'd recommend it to a lot of people to explore for themselves. With the right mindset and relaxed attitude it can be a photographer's heaven. I certainly intend to continue my Iran photoadventure :)



 
great work Phantomas.
I specially like the compositions in post 33.

It's interesting how all the looks/face expressions in your portrait series are similar, despite the difference in age and situation.
They all stare at me the same way exactly...(except maybe the last one with the two kids...)
 
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Phantomas said:
Contrary to popular belief Iranians are not scary people. Actually I was wondering around trying to find some of the famous "Iranian fanaticism", but instead was greeted with tea and sweets :)
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Your photographs are indeed breaking through my Western stereo-typical/prejudistic view I picked up from the media of the Iranians. Quite disarming, thanks Phantomas! :) I love the portraits and street shots!
 
Yes, wonderful, wonderful photos! I love the portraits, and the later photos from the desert are superb too! Keep posting!
 
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