Four View To Iran|Fourth View

Age: 25. Hojat was born in a village near Khoramabad, Lorestan, W.Iran. He has been documenting life in the western regions of Iran, in Kurdistan and Lorestan. He is also a writer and poet; his photographs reflect his literary mind and also encompass his poetic romantic outlook on life. Two years ago Hojat moved to Tehran and has been one of the most popular and commissioned young photographers working for various publications. His friends refer to him as the photographer who brought poetry to Iranian photojournalism. Sepahvand is a good example of the many ambitious young provincial artists who have started to make an impact on the cultural scene in Iran today. 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

Third View