by Mark Edward HarrisChronicle Books
~ Review in Halifax Herald, September 2009
Iran has been in the news in recent times, perhaps most famously for its links to Iraq and “the axis of evil”. But when Mark Edward Harris set out to document the daily life of Iranians with his camera, he found a country teeming with people going about their daily business in the manner of people everywhere. In his most recent book of photography, Inside Iran, Harris wanders the countryside capturing Iran’s geographical diversity and it’s mix of cultures, ancient and modern.
The resulting photographs are astounding, and continue to remind us that the selected images we see on TV and in newspapers do not reflect the daily life of Iranians. Harris’s images show a country going about it’s business. A grandfather beams proudly as he holds up his infant granddaughter for the camera. A baker produces walnut cookies, children in jeans and t-shirts smile shyly, and a mullah shows off his shiny motorbike. A suited man is caught in a private ballet as he balances on a window ledge to spray a wasp nest, a portrait of elegance. Children play on a dinosaur at the Natural History Museum of Isfahan, and a shopkeeper smiles a wreath of wrinkles, surrounded by jars and bottles of oil and olives, stacked high in meticulous perfection.
Inside Iran shows the modern and ancient worlds co-existing. Families gather at a teahouse in Shiraz at the tomb of Hafex, a fourteenth century poet who “is considered the undisputed master of the ghazal, a lyrical poem with a single rhyme.” Familiar patterns repeat over and over, in carpets for which Persia is so famous, and in the intricate and ancient inlay work of mosques and buildings.
Harris photographs the women of Iran kayaking, walking hand in hand with boyfriends and husbands, and shooting pool. They are restaurateurs, students, contractors and teachers, and Harris captures their essence. He particularly excels at portraits and the eyes of his subjects glow from the page, deep and warm. Inside Iran shows the other side of television, an Iran filled with people whose lives look different culturally and geographically, but underneath it would seem that the hopes and dreams are remarkably similar to our own.
Mark Edward Harris is an award winning travel photographer and documentary film maker who was named Photographer of the Year in 2004 for his work “Mark Edward Harris: Wanderlust" (R.A.M. Publications).
