Distorted horizons

Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the United States imposed sanctions against Iran. In 2006, following discussions around the Iranian Nuclear Program, the US, UN and other Western nations expanded the sanctions. The restrictions hobbled Iran’s economy and led to widespread pessimism among Iranians about their future. I photographed this series in the streets of Tehran at the peak of the sanctions period between 2018 and 2019. In recent years, many problems have arisen in people’s lives as a result of the pressure of sanctions on the one hand and the economic mismanagement of the country on the other. During this time, people lived constantly under the shadow of war. They also witnessed their purchasing power decrease as the prices went up daily. For me, the street scenes represent the deep inner life of Iranian society. On the streets, on buses, and in the subways, I saw people, so immersed in their thoughts, that their surroundings lost all meaning, ceased to exist, leaving them lost, frightened and not knowing what to do.