Age: 26. Jafar was born in the small village of Shahrak, in the valleys of Alamut. When only two years old, he was featured in a photo essay on poverty in the region in an Iranian magazine. The magazine's expose of the social conditions of the area resulted in steps taken by the government to rectify the situation: roads were built and clean water supplies were provided, etc. The magazine's photo essay became a regional social icon. The young Jafar grew up with a belief in the power of the photograph to bring about social change. In his teens he decided to become a photographer himself and document life in the Alamut region. He learnt photography and joined a young people's arts club. Soon he started to produce beautiful color prints showing all aspects of life in the region. Later, he helped organize the first Association of Photographers of the Qazvin (Alamut) area, arranging exhibitions and slide shows in the villages of Alamut. Jafar is a remarkable example of a 'native' documentary photographer. This collection of photographs is the result of an exercise in depicting a true and truthful image of Iran and its people, as seen through the eyes of four young Iranian documentary photographers. The general idea was to provide a parallel view to that of an earlier, foreign traveling eye, that of Laurence Lockhart, whose long sojourn in Iran and wide ranging travels across this land combined with his vast knowledge of Iran's history, religions and culture, produced some of the most compassionate visual documentations of Iran during one of its most important historical periods. But, unfortunately, compassion and knowledge seem not to be enough for a spiritually correct translation and interpretation of the reality of life. One has to be native to the land and part of its ongoing life to be able to reflect clearly - truthfully- its people's lives. Lockhart traveled to the remote mountain region of Alamut: a native young Alamut photographer was chosen to provide the visual counterpoints to Lockhart's photographs of the area. Lockhart photographed daily lives of villagers in the Caspian region: a young woman photographer was chosen to record in detail lives of the women of a village in the same region. Lockhart traveled in the west of Iran and was involved with the oil industry in Khuzistan province: a young native Lor photographer was assigned to document both the west of Iran, his home region, and the present oil industry. Lockhart showed interests in Iran's nomadic tribes and had documented Iran's transitional period from a nomadic, feudal society to a modern society on the way to industrialization: a young nomadic photographer, himself a product of the social transition, was asked to document the lives of his own people . Texts Written by:KAVEH GOLESTAN Photographers were supported by BP Iran ,a part of BP p.i.c.

First View

Second View

Fourh View