Current Affairs

mahima · Admiral Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1973

On a month-long expedition, photographer Bobby Model and writer Kira Salak examined the ancient cities and remotest corners of this harsh land. The reward: a rare glimpse into the heart of a nation on the brink.
Photograph by Bobby Model

The photo was taken in Café Shouka in Tehran. This particular café is in a very liberal part of Tehran where poets and artists gather after work or school. As a photographer with limited time, I knew that I needed to go to these types of places in order to be able to take pictures of people that live in Tehran. Other than these types of locations, it was nearly impossible to meet and spend time with locals in a relaxed setting.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

mahima · Admiral Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1973

While following British explorer Freya Stark's travels in the Hindimini region in western Iran (documented in her 1934 classic The Valleys of the Assassins), we struggled to find her route and often had to stop to ask local people to point out where various landmarks were to orientate ourselves. Here our guide Abbas translates writer Kira Salak's questions to a local boy.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

While camping in Luristan with nomadic Lur shepherds, we were welcomed into the local tents and became practically part of the family. The shepherds did not know that we were American, nor did they care. They saw us as friendly people.

As times have changed, they have gained access to medical care and even own a vehicle so they can retrieve supplies and transport their sheep down from the mountains when winter sets in.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

Walking the streets of Isfahan one night around 10 p.m., I stopped into a jewelry store to watch people walk by, like this woman wearing a hejab admiring the spread of watches. In my work, I like to capture the daily lives of ordinary people.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

Iranian people love to camp and backpack, as there are numerous outdoor clubs and climbing clubs in the cities. After we crossed the Salaj Anbar pass in the Elborz Mountains a group of elderly men from a local alpine club passed us. I made this image as they descended down the pass.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

While crossing the Salaj Anbar pass in the Elborz Mountains, we came across some local shepherds high in the mountains. They were in the process of milking hundreds of sheep to see the milk in the local markets. When we arrived, they offered us tea and then continued working.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

mahima · Admiral Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1973

Writer Kira Salak shows a drawing of the castle of Lamiasar from Freya Stark's The Valleys of the Assassins. The actual ruin of Lamiasar Castle is seen in the background of this picture.

Iranian women walk by a shop that sells designer clothes in the city of Hamadan. I found the juxtaposition of women dressed in traditional Islamic hejab and the display of tight women's jeans in the foreground to be an interesting insight into contemporary life in Iran.

A mule man that assisted with our journey over the Salaj Anbar pass in the Elborz Mountains holds our pack mules during a break in our walk over the high mountain passes.
—Contributing Photographer Bobby Model

Current Affairs

A Look Inside Modern Iran