Arts & Culture

Look: Portraits of Iran’s Middle-Class Youth

Taken within the familiarity of her own apartment building, Newsha Tavakolian's series of portraits reveal the pressures and isolation facing middle-class youth in Tehran

Newsha Tavakolian

Newsha Tavakolian | Look Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Somayeh. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Asal. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Babak. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Pani. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Hamidreza. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Jahan. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Hamed. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Shirin. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos
Newsha Tavakolian | Look Amirali. Tehran, Iran. 2010. © Newsha Tavakolian | Magnum Photos

“The project was my desire to look deeply into the lives of those around me who I have known for over ten years and who live in my building. I wanted to bring to life the story of a nation of middle class youths who are everyday battling with themselves, their isolated conformed society, their lack of hope for the future and each of their individual stories. Over a period of six months at 8pm I fixed my camera on a tripod in front of the window where I had watched the same view of the city for ten years.

I have tried to capture a moment of each of their stories within the frame of a window that looks out onto the cold concrete buildings which surround us daily.” – Newsha Tavakolian

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