"Tehran Diary"
35mm film, black and white acrylic on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper Supreme
“Tehran Diary is a project on my mother's life in Tehran, and while visiting her three children living abroad. My mother belongs to a generation of middle class Iranian parents living alone, and often continents apart from their children.
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, large groups of young Iranians left the country primarily in pursuit of a different life. The self-imposed exile of Iranians created a new pattern for their families. In the absence of comprehensive social security to support the elderly, in a culture where it is common for young adults to remain at home till their late thirties, many parents found the absence of their children difficult to deal with.
It hasn’t been easy for the exiled generation either; not shouldering your filial obligations; instead, living in different time zones, and trying to provide support for the elderly and frail parents means worrying every day about unforeseen situations.
The current project started in 2012, during one of my regular trips from the Netherlands (where I live) to my homelands, Tehran, Iran. I started taking pictures of my mother’s daily life, and this became our routine; whenever we were together, either in Tehran or elsewhere.
After printing the images, I sensed an urge to use black and white paint on each photo. It was as if every image offered the possibility of becoming a living moment capable of offering a three dimensional setting for the world I was trying to create.
Photographing her and spending time on each photo through the addition of paint, had a therapeutic effect on me. I realised that by going through this process I was eventually spending more time with her when she was not around.
The result was a hybrid of photography and painting, giving a surreal sense to the imagery, which was as peculiar as my mother’s life.
(On a winter morning in 2022, I received a phone call from Tehran, informing me that my mother had been in a car accident. I cant recall the moments that followed…but somehow I managed to get on a plane in order to land in Tehran some 10 hours after that phone call. My mother didn't survive the accident - she passed away a few weeks later, leaving us in an immense agony...)”
Scenes from the film Tehran Diary.
Hotel Room, 29 x 44 cm, Kish Island, 2017
Untitled, 20 x 30 cm, Tehran, 2017
At a wedding, 29 x 44 cm, Northern Iran, 2017
From the roof, 11 x 15 cm, Tehran, 2017
Untitled, 11 x 15 cm, Tehran, 2017
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Digging into albums, 11 x 15 cm, Tehran, 2017
Reunited with Mahsa and
Sarvin, 11 x 15 cm, Alkmaar, 2017
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Hotel room, 21 x 31 cm, Kish Island, 2017
Untitled, 16 x 22 cm, Tehran, 2018
Untitled, 11 x 15 cm, Alkmaar,
2017
At Aunt’s, 16 x 22 cm, Tehran,
2019
Untitled, 11x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019,
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Parvin, 21 x 29 cm, Alkmaar, 2018
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Reunited with Mahsa, 11 x 15
cm, Alkmaar, 2017
On the shore of the North
See, 11 x 15 cm, Schagen, 2017
Untitled, 11 x 15 cm, Bergen, 2017
Parvin’s, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar,
2019
Untitled, 11 x 15 cm, Alkmaar,
2017
Untitled, 11 x 15 cm, Alkmaar,
2017
Untitled, 11x 15 cm, Alkmaar, 2017
With her, 11 x 15 cm, Tehran, 2017
Flying to Tehran, 11 x 16
cm, 2018
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran,
2019
In the air, 11 x 16 cm, 2018
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran,
2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2018
Untitled, 16 x 22 cm, Tehran, 2018
Before Sleeping, 21 x 31
cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Amsterdam, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 21 x 31 cm, Tehran, 2019
Nowruz, 21 x 31 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Amsterdam, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Madrid, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Madrid, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
After her surgery, 11 x 16 cm, Montreal, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Headache after a long flight, cooling her face with a wet tissue, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
With her portrait, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Flying to Tehran, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Alkmaar, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Tehran, 2019
Untitled, 11 x 16 cm, Amsterdam, 2019
