Women.life.freedom: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:18, 31 March 2023

This photography series began after the tragic murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian government in September, which sparked the "woman.life.freedom" revolution. I started taking photos of the protests that were happening here in the Netherlands, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and The Hague. Eventually, I even traveled to Berlin to attend the biggest Iranian protest against the government since the revolution in 1979.

I felt connected to these protests. Even though I had promised myself that I wouldn't think about Iran when I migrated, it was hard to ignore what was happening there. These protests were a chance for me to capture the history and share it with the world as a documentary photographer. And I was grateful for the opportunity to do so without fear of getting arrested or risking my life.

I even submitted my photos to the World Press Photo contest, but unfortunately, I wasn't nominated. But that's okay because I faced another fear of mine by simply entering the contest.

The revolution had a big impact on my mental health, though. I've struggled with depression in the past, and working on this project brought up a lot of difficult emotions for me. So, I decided to step back from the protests and social media for a couple of months to focus on my mental health and studies. Unfortunately, that meant the photo series had to come to an end for now.

Another result of this revolution and the project was the EYE film project that I did for the program which you can read about in another article.

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-the film's name is changed to ''silence.''
+This photography series began after the tragic murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian government in September, which sparked the "woman.life.freedom" revolution. I started taking photos of the protests that were happening here in the Netherlands, from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and The Hague. Eventually, I even traveled to Berlin to attend the biggest Iranian protest against the government since the revolution in 1979.
+I felt connected to these protests. Even though I had promised myself that I wouldn't think about Iran when I migrated, it was hard to ignore what was happening there. These protests were a chance for me to capture the history and share it with the world as a documentary photographer. And I was grateful for the opportunity to do so without fear of getting arrested or risking my life.
-I'm made a short film, and my main approach was for non-Iranians to take action about the movement in Iran. I believe everyone in the world can have a normal life because of feminism and the women’s rights movement. Every person that believes in feminism or women's rights could do something about what has been going on in iran. the film is 03:58 minutes. It displays a very normal life of a Rotterdam inhabitant. For instance, people walking down the street or talking to each other or going somewhere with their child. Everything that would remind a Rotterdamer of their life and is familiar to them. It reminds the audience that they have this freedom of a normal life because other people fought for this rights in the past.
+I even submitted my photos to the World Press Photo contest, but unfortunately, I wasn't nominated. But that's okay because I faced another fear of mine by simply entering the contest.
-in terms of technical decisions, i implemented the use/faking of long lenses with my camera to heighten the sense of distance. i chose to use my personal camera which is sony alpha 7riii to capture the moving images and try to get the best quality out of that. it took a long experiment for me to get over my fears of having a camera in the streets. i wanted the pictures to be beautiful and poetic, not just documentary. the practice of creating such thing was a very good learning point in my artistic path which i was nit used to. the final result came out satisfying to me.
+The revolution had a big impact on my mental health, though. I've struggled with depression in the past, and working on this project brought up a lot of difficult emotions for me. So, I decided to step back from the protests and social media for a couple of months to focus on my mental health and studies. Unfortunately, that meant the photo series had to come to an end for now.
-In the end, through a series of questions that audience can/can not relate to, are gonna see how many people died in Iran because of this revolution and basic rights. when at the same time, the inhabitants were just having, for example, their coffee. In the western world, I think we forget to use our privileges. If you believe that men and women are equal and that women can have all the rights to do whatever they want, then you believe in feminism. I'm made this film to remind people that they can actually use this freedom of speech. I think that nobody expects you to care, but if you care and take action on it, you can say that you’re a feminist or believe that everyone should be equal.
+Another result of this revolution and the project was the EYE film project that I did for the program which you can read about in another article.
+[[File:Berlin still2.jpg|frameless]]
+[[File:Berlin still7.jpg|frameless]]
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+[[File:Iran Protests still2.jpg|left|frameless]]
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+[[File:Berlin still5.jpg|frameless|464x464px]][[File:Iran Protests still3.jpg|frameless|464x464px]]
+[[File:Iran Protests still5.jpg|frameless|466x466px]][[File:Iran Protests still6.jpg|frameless|465x465px]][[File:Iran Protests still7.jpg|frameless|466x466px]][[File:Iran Protests still8.jpg|frameless|466x466px]][[File:Iran Protests still9.jpg|frameless|583x583px]][[File:Iran Protests still10.jpg|frameless]]