During the Rencontres d’Arles 2017, Iran had the place of honour with the Iran Year 38 exhibition, the showing of a documentary on July 3rd and a previously unseen web series on the creative and courageous Iranian photographic scene. These short films, produced by ARTE and broadcast on the Franco-German channel, present an unexpected and committed look at a country torn between modernity and tradition.
Through the eyes of ten young photographers born after the 1979 Islamic revolution, the web series talks about today’s Iran, about its youth, about its vitality. In a country where culture and art remain the domain of the state, despite the constraints and the difficulties, these photographers have chosen to stay in their country, out of pride and passion for their culture. For them, photography is a tool of expression but also a means of re-appropriating their identity, far from western clichés. Between creativity and censure, in this web series, these photographers share, unfiltered, the desires and dreams of their generation.
In partnership with ARTE, the Eye of Photography is offering you the chance to see these videos, which last about five minutes each, one by one.
Today it’s Sina Shiri’s video, entitled Budding Militia.
The Basij is voluntary civilian militia, mainly active with the military. For a few weeks, the photographer Sina Shiri shared the daily lives of these young volunteers who had various motivations. Despite the austere conditions, he became attached to these young militiamen competing with humour and energy.
Punk Polaroid by Ali Kazemi from L'Oeil de la photographie on Vimeo.
Milice en herbe by Sina Shiri from L’Oeil de la photographie on Vimeo.
