Iran Photo Project on Flickr

There’s an interesting photo project going on at Flickr called the iRAN Project. I came across it a month or so ago and bookmarked for a later mention. It appears to have been set up by a Madhi Ayat as a way for photographers in Iran to show day- to-day life as they capture it with a their cameras. The latest photos were posted on May 19, 2007. This one is not Ayat’s, but in his pool of favorites. Elishka took this one of the Sardasht valley. I like it because it reminds me of the best travel moments.

Along with his photographs, the photo pools of other photographers’ work cover subjects that range from nature to architecture to portraits. There are discussion threads as well. Ayat has also included a link to Tehran24.com, another site dedicated to illuminating the daily life in Iran through photographs. Both collections are sort like coffee table books on-line.

Besides viewing the photographs for their artistic merit and interest, I find it fascinating just to see the variety of the subjects photographers pick as the ones worth noticing. The fact that Iran is the overarching theme is also intriguing. These are views of the world not often seen.