It was my trip to Cairo back in 2004 that opened up my eyes and sparked a passion inside that I couldn’t shake. I traveled all over the city, visited some of the most historical spots and experienced a beautiful culture. First of all, it was the closest I had ever been to the middle east and meeting the Egyptian people, experiencing their culture and walking the streets, it was there that a desire to visit Iran was birthed. Born in the states as an Iranian-American I never really had a desire to see Iran…it was such a distant part of me. Growing up as a second generation Iranian it was easy to feel disconnected and not really appreciate where our parents had come from. But it was on this trip that I realized that there was so much to learn and so much to experience in my own country of Iran. The women of Egypt walking the streets with their hair covered, the culture, the food, the skin color, the eyes of the children…it was all hitting me in such a real way. It was the closest to Iran I had ever been. In Cairo, my camera never left my side. I walked, I photographed. I recorded everything I saw and captured something so much more than a few memories. This trip birthed a new passion inside me. I loved the feeling of being able to capture a story, a culture so different than what I grew up seeing yet surprisingly enough, related to in more ways than one.
I will never forget the moment that changed me forever: I was walking through the narrow streets which lead to a cathedral we were going to visit when I noticed this woman standing in her doorway with the biggest frown on her face, watching as a long line of young american students were squeezing by and probably causing quite a disturbance for her. I waited, as the rest of our group walked by me, I quietly lifted up my camera and I quickly snapped a photo and went on my way. I didn’t want to bother her anymore than we already were. But, it wasn’t until after I got back to my hotel room that I noticed that she had noticed me too and actually smiled for the camera. There was something so special about this for me. She noticed me. She saw me just as I saw and noticed her. She may have been annoyed with what was going on around us and she didn’t *have* to smile, but she did. It was then that I knew I wanted to capture more of these moments. The moments that are hidden yet say so much once they’re discovered. I want to collect images and moments in time that tell a story. A story captured amidst the chaos…a story not everyone may get to hear firsthand but everyone will get to see and experience through the images captured. One day I’ll get to visit Iran and tell a story that needs to be shared but hasn’t been discovered yet.