JESUS

Khanum-e Kaviani-e

Khanum-e Kaviani-e aziz;

thank you for your intriguing thoughts, I enjoyed reading them. Yes, I do have another album I have been putting together.

As for Sagha khane, having livied in an ancient part of Shiraz, your descriptions brought to mind a vivid image of Sagha Khane ha that I had seen in the past. Actually when ATM (Bank-e khod pardaz) was just introduced, I did observe people who lit candles inside them and whispered prayers, unbelievable huh?

Very Nice!

Dear Aria:

Your photographs are beautiful. I liked your series on Windows, too. You have the eye for this. Will you be treating us to photographs of people of Mexico soon? Even if you didn't do it on this trip, it would be really nice to see people through your lens, too.

Looks like Christianity is very much alive in Mexico. Those church gatherings seemed immense! Say, did you know that in Iran we used to have small structures called "Sagha Khooneh," somewhat similar to what you have captured on picture 4? The structures were invariably attached to a water dispenser, complete with copper bowls which would welcome thirsty passersby to stop, drink, say a prayer and move on. People would make wishes and light candles in a Sagha Khooneh.

Sagha Khoonehs are now almost extinct. For that matter, the thousands of mosques which now exist in Iran are also utilized infrequently by many Iranians. In large cities, most people only attend memorial services at mosques anymore, or to avail themselves of the facilities. There is a large government organization built around the mission of increasing the number of mosque goers in Iran, but they have not been very successful. While many Iranians, especially in rural areas, perform their prayers at mosques on Fridays and on Eids, very few use them for their daily prayers. One of the reasons for this lack of interest is that it is not acceptable for mosques to be used for anything other than prayers. For example and as compared to Christian places of worship, people can't have weddings in mosques, not really. Or school classes cannot be held there, because there are strict requirements about how to use a mosque.

Anyhow, sorry for the long comment, but your photographs provoked some thoughts in me, and what better outcome would a photographer wish to achieve than to provoke thought? Thank you for sharing your trip with us.