The Sun Collection

The name of this collection, “The Sun” or “Khorshid” in Persian, was taken from my grandmother’s name. She lived her life in an old house in a small town in the north of Iran where all these photos were shot. Locals of this small town treasure their traditions and cultural beliefs. These beliefs have strong roots in rich ancient folk tales and fairy tales once our ancestors told many years ago. Though it is unfortunate that most of these stories are getting forgotten and lost in recent history. I found it my passion and my mission to collect all these stories and bring them to life by re-creating scenes from old local folktales. And as an admirer of Stage Photography techniques, I have tried to capture these photos using the same style. • Each photo is telling an old story that has shaped one of today’s local beliefs or traditions in this town over the years. As an individual who grew up in this culture, I decided to make this collection more personal by adding elements that show my own interpretation of these tales and tried to re-tell each story the way I’ve seen it and felt it when growing up.This collection was shot with minimum facilities: one Canon 6D and simple lighting sources found at my grandmother’s home. • When doing my research, it came to my attention that all these folktales have one thing in common. In all of these stories, there are certain evil characters/monsters that spread fear and threat among people. These dark souls force people to obey them, no questions asked. This dark fear, that once belonged to old stories, then became a none separable part of most traditions and everyday life routines that exist today among locals of this town.To better show this dark fear, most photos were taken at night, when monsters in the stories usually come to life. There is a human figure (myself) hidden somewhere in the background of photos as the symbol for the dark monsters and fake fears. The reason I chose a "human" figure to represent these monsters is that I believe the source of most dark fears is nothing supernatural but ourselves and what we as humans choose to believe and act on in our lives. • as opposed to darkness, there is light in all photos – I used an old oil lantern for this purpose - which symbolizes a brave mind that can break any superstition dark fears. To make all these stories connected to each other, as if everything is happening to one household, there are some items such as a bassinet, a blue photo frame and a wedding dress that might repeat in all shots.

• First photo

Local belief/story:

A new bride, if left alone in a room, will be haunted by a dark soul – Aal –. The bride in the photo is standing alone by herself in a room, and a dark figure – Aal – is hiding behind the curtains. In the living room, a woman goes into labor and people are getting together to help so Aal- fear- won’t get a chance to haunt the bride.
Here again, I play the role of Aal. There is an oil lantern – the symbol for a brave mind – next to the woman going into labor.

• Second photo

Local belief/story :

A woman who just had a baby – a new mom – should never be left alone in a room otherwise a dark soul named “Aal” will come after her and steal her baby.
In the photo we can see a new mom holding her baby , sitting in a room alone. A dark figure – Aal – is approaching from the door to the backyard. I played the role of Aal here. Aal which is the symbol of fear is chased away when a third person enters the room holding the oil lantern which is a symbol of a thoughtful mind.

• Third photo

Local belief/story:

one of the main signatures of old houses in the north of Iran and particularly in the town that these photos were shot, is a wooden ladder that connects the first floor to the attic. This wooden ladder is called “Kaati”. Attics used to be a special space for storing fruits, grain, and cereal, and kids were not allowed to go there because locals believed the attic monster called – Kalle Vesen – might steal and eat them!

In the photo, a little girl is going up the “Kaati”. She is trying to get an apple that “Kalle Vesen” - the attic monster- is holding to trick her into going into the attic.
This fake fear is gone when the little girl’s mom enters the room holding the oil lantern. Again I played the role of attic monster here.And the oil lantern is a symbol for a bright mind that sees the truth and fights the fake fear.

• Fourth photo

Local belief/story:

locals believe it brings bad luck to the family if washed clothes are left outside the house overnight.
In the photo, “Shoope” - who is a farmer that watches the farms at nights – is leaving the house and his wife is taking all the washed cloth into the house. A dark figure – the symbol for bad luck – is sitting on the ground and trying to hold back the cloth. Again I played the role of the dark figure here. And the oil lantern is a symbol of a bright mind that sees the truth and fights the fake fear.

• Fifth photo

Local belief/story:

At Persian New Year night, locals in this town light up bonfires all around the yard and they believe this will keep the bad luck away in the New Year.
Here I played the role of dark figure/bad luck, who is being chased away, to the left of the photo. And the oil lantern is a symbol of a brave mind.

• sixth photo

Local belief/story:

“Wang Zaan” is the name of another dark soul that locals believe lives deep inside of the woods and farms. It makes strange noises to make people who are passing by, lose their way and get lost in the woods.
In the photo, a hand holding an orange – Wang Zaan - appears from the trees, trying to distract two farmers - Shoopes - . We can see again the oil lantern here which is a symbol for light and a brave mind that doesn’t let the fear and confusion find their way into farmers’ hearts.

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