[Foaad Khosmood: I first met Scott Bohlinger at the 2006 Iran Future Prospects Conference, hosted by Dr. Abbas Milani at Stanford University. He made an impressive presentation. Even more impressive was his extensive knowledge of the Middle East and his spoken Persian skills. It was a shock to hear such decent Persian coming out of a blond-haired Californian who had never been to the region! Currently in Northern Afghanistan working as a security analyst for an NGO, Scott took a field trip through Iran in May, and snapped up a few pictures. Because of the Internet conditions of where he’s at, he wasn’t able to send too many but these are real nice. He has also provided great descriptions. You can click on the pictures to see them. ]
Scott writes:
The aesthetic of the revolution was extremely advanced in terms of political iconography and that tradition carries forward for today, with even the most bland state-sponsored messages presented in a surprisingly engaging way that manages not to insult your intelligence. The samples here are limited by the fact that I left on the 25th (Ahmadinezhad hadn’t felt the need to put up any posters by then) and the curiosity of policemen as to what I was up to. They were nice enough and the US does support terrorism in Iran so I snapped less than I would have liked to.
Visit Scott’s Blog: The Global Californian.
