Portfolio: Women In The Axis Of Evil

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and never before has the conservative clerics in power faced as much scrutiny and ill will, from both inside the country and out.

The country is currently mired in a parliamentary crisis of the religious clerics' own doing. Earlier this year, a non-elected board of religious hard-liners summarily disqualified some 2,300 reformist candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Mass resignations, sit-ins and protests followed, but most of the country does not want another bloody revolution. Many are calling the move a religious coup d'etat that has even further disillusioned those hoping for pro-democracy reforms.

Such is the political climate 22-year-old Iranian photographer Newsha Tavakolian is working in. Ever since President Bush declared Iran one of the three countries in the so-called "Axis of Evil," Tavakolian has been working to show a different side of Iran, one that goes beyond the stereotypical view of the country's religious fundamentalism to show a vibrant society yearning to embrace Western values.

Two-thirds of the country's population are under 30, and for many of them, Western culture has as much if not more pull on their dreams and desires than the Koran. Women often get nose jobs and die their hair blonde to appear more "Western." Teenagers cruise the streets of Tehran blasting hip-hop music from their cars, while young men and women alike devour Hollywood movies and idolize their stars.

While the social restrictions placed on Iranians has caused many of the country's educated classes to emigrate to the U.S. or Europe, Tavakolian remains firmly entrenched in Tehran, the nation's capital.

"I want to see the world and other cultures, but I really want to stay in Iran because I have a feeling for the people," Tavakolian says. "I live inside the closed Iranian society, something that Western photographers cannot achieve in two weeks being here."

Part of Tavakolian's ongoing "Women in the Axis of Evil" essay was recently published in The New York Times Magazine, but the project has often had to take a backseat to breaking news coverage. In December, Tavakolian had to leave her wedding celebration in the Netherlands to cover the devastating earthquake in the ancient Iranian city of Bam. Over the last month, the photographer has spent her days photographing the ongoing parliamentary battle.

Tavakolian says much of Iran's younger generation has already lost faith in reformist president Khatami's government and its inability to enact democratic reforms. Though many young people don't plan to vote in the upcoming elections, Tavakolian says their apathy is a serious mistake that could turn Tehran into a cultural "graveyard."

Tavakolian is represented by Polaris Images.

Iranian Links

Iran's Revolution At 25: Out Of Gas (Christian Science Monitor)

Payvand News Of Iran

IranMania