Summer Plans

This summer I'll be in Dushanbe, Tajikistan for two months studying Persian through the US State Department's Critical Language Scholarship. Since I've never been to Tajikistan, I've been looking at a lot of photos from the region to get a sense of its landscape and people. So far it looks like an eclectic mix of socialist architecture with traditional marketplaces and citadels. Dushanbe has a lot of Soviet-style monumental architecture and reminds me of what I saw in Russia. The natural scenery is really beautiful (about 95% of the land is mountainous) and I hope to get a chance to see some of the higher mountains outside the capital. Love the photos of suzani textiles and women's clothing!

Dushanbe from above

Khojand

Winter in Iran

Some people are surprised to learn that it snows in Iran. It certainly does! :) Especially in Tehran and in the mountains. Here are some photos of winter in Iran:

Paradise Lost

As a final presentation for my Persian language course, I recently made a PowerPoint about Iran's diverse geography and landscape. I used several images from one of my favorite photography books-- Paradise Lost: Persia from Above by Georg Gerster. Between 1976 and 1978 (right before the Islamic revolution) Gerster was granted rare permission from Queen Farah Pahlavi to record the landscapes and cities of Persia through aerial photography. My favorite photos are those of old citadels and oases irrigated through qanats (see the last image). The title suggests that 'paradise' is lost because since 1979 no one has been able to document Iran's geography this thoroughly-- in fact, the only aerial imagery we see today from Iran are poor-quality photos of nuclear facilities. Several of Gerster's images also document many places that have been destroyed by earthquakes since the 70s-- making Gerster's project even more valuable. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Iranian history, agriculture, and art.

The word 'paradise' is derived from the the ancient Iranian word--'paridayda' in Old Persian (rendered 'parádeisos' in Ancient Greek) which was meant to describe an oasis or cultivated area. The ability to channel water into the deserts was indeed one of the most transformative engineering feats of ancient Iranians and was deemed sacred. The ancient gardens of Cyrus the Great were therefore called 'paridayda'. 

Autumn in Iran

Color Through Light

Stained Glass from Nasir al-Mulk Mosque (Shiraz) 

& Khaneh Tabatabaei-ha (Kashan)

Iftar in Mashhad

These are a series of photos from Fars News Agency by Meysam Dehghani taken in Mashhad, Iran.  Muslims gather at the Shrine of Imam Reza at sundown to break their fast--which is called "Iftar" during the month of Ramadan.  Traditionally, a date is eaten first alongside a cup of tea.  "Ramadan Mubarak" to my Persian friends!

For more information about Ramadan in Iran: