IRAN

Tourism is wrong

Anonymous2486 Joon

There are plenty of poor neighborhoods in America too.  Should tourists go and take pictures of those places?  Where should tourists go when they go to Iran? Or tourists should not even go to Iran and spend their Euros and Dollars in Europe and America?  

The best and worst pictures of Iran, are just pictures.  One picture is worth a thousand words.  You only see the "good" words, how?

the incredible, amazing, and magical self reflecting reality ...

//books.google.com/books?id=VC8oMwjUp24C&pg=P...

(+1 JJ)

Enough honesty?!

Anonymous2486 Joon,

Your point is well taken. However there's one slight problem. One of the reasons why this photo essay is amazing is because it does NOT say everything is wonderful in Iran. It feels honest and real.

Enough!

It happens so often on this site that I finally had to say something. Nice pictures of some folks who had a blast in Iran, telling others how wonderful the food was, about fantastic hotels, the scenery and on and on!
Yes, life is great if you are a visitor with euro or dollars in one pocket and EU or US residency in the other. You know you'll be leaving soon, so you are so oblivious to every day people's suffering and economic hardship.
So please, stop putting up your beer drinking, kabob eating, ice cream licking pictures with stupid commentaries about the wonderful state of the counrty!

It's still depressing...

Dear Irandokt,

I thought last night I was too tired so I should have been misled by my fatigue. Today is warm and sunny so I looked at these pictures again and voila what I see:

Dead fishes, empty net, hungry fishermen, knife dance, suicidal smokers, wasting your precious life time on making a mountain out of your hair, staring at the gray sea with envy, impossible elections, sanctions, middle finger to the world, the smell of war, being born into a world of uncertainty, and an overwhelming forced silence...Ah my dear! It is still too depressing...

I guess each of us look at these same pictures through the lens of our choice!

Azarin 

My dear Azarin

His diary is actually not that depressing. Granted the aunt's death was sad, but he did draw an interesting conclusion from it.

Also the finger... that was dorougheh 13 (April fool's)

don't be sad :0)

IRANdokht

So depressing...

Black and white pictures, a dead beloved aunt, a funeral, an old man with absent gaze, a cut middle finger, veiled youth with absent gaze, absence,...it all reminded me of a black hole. Ah, so depressing! Sorry for your loss, Azarin

Lgoit, apologies for

Lgoit, apologies for crediting the wrong person. I do appreciate LA girl's postings however. I wouldn't have found them otherwise. I just finished looking thru all of your photos on your link. That was awesome. Please continue to take photos. I can't wait to show my American husband. It really gives an entirely different perspective to us expats and those who have never visited. I can't wait for your new submissions/posts. Still can't believe that's a camera phone. Your editing skills are great.

Life Drags On In Iran

Salaam,

Very much enjoyed your site. Quite engaging.

Beyond Tasliat for your dear Aunt (she looks like a lovely person!), would like to suggest to you that you may already have your feature Film.

La Jetée
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RvmJan17q8

'Animate' that template: Structure. Narrative. Emotional range. you've got it all. Cell phone 'camera' as a critical element of the movie would be the key for the juxtaposition of 'still' elements into the hands of your characters ... and, of course, the "iPhone".

//www.che-mi.com/pics/SonyEricssonS500CellPho...

Best wishes,

/& Salaam

Addictive

I have been hooked ever since this was featured in iranian.com a while back. The photos are good but it's the blog that keeps me coming back. So down to earth, sincere and straightforward. Feels like a friend telling me about life in Iran. I love it.

Fantastic.

Several months ago I saw your photo essay here on Iranian.com, and I became a frequent visitor of your site ever since, I also sent the link to several people.

In your site, there was a question about " does anyone visit this site? or I'm just wasting my time here ?"

I tried to use the "contact us" botton to add my comment, but it was not active then. I'm not sure if it's being fixed or not? 

You're doing a fantastic job. Simple, honest, to the point and refreshing. 

life goes on in Tehran

Wow! so you're back in LA again! welcome back! 

Was that really your aunt? sorry for your loss... very touching what you said about dying in Iran vs US.

what a great diary of your stay in Tehran! it felt good to see your wonderful pictures again, I had seen your site a long time ago but lost the link.

you're right about looking at Tehran through the plane window... We just never know if it's the last time.

Good luck to you and keep up the good work! maybe we should pitch in and buy you a real camera ;-)

IRANdokht

Life Goes on in Tehran

Than let me thank you instead then. What a shame to steal someone else's work. I bookmarked your blog.

Thanks for sharing MY photos!

Not sure who LA girl is, but I would like to thank her for taking the time to take down my photos, adding my captions to them and posting them here. For more photos please visit the site itself by following one of the following three links:

www.lifegoesonintehran.com
www.lgoit.com
www.lifegoesoninLA.com

LA/Tehran Guy, photographer/blogger of lgoit.com

Thank you LA Girl for such

Thank you LA Girl for such an honest and sincere look at the world of regular people in Iran. I enjoyed your pictures and the captions are so great. I am sorry for loosing the tip of your finger. Have a wonderful time and please share more of your pictures with us in the future.

Best,
P.S. Some of the captions are hard to read because of the lack of contrast with the background color.

Very much enjoyed..

the photos and the captions. This is the best travel report I ever read. Thank you!

Excellent

Excellent! thanks for sharing

Loved it

Thanks for these wonderful pics. Loved watching and reading them.

Touching

The best diary of life in Iran I have ever seen. Sincere & short & sweet & wise & witty comments with matching photography, beautifully designed and presented.

can't fly

except for pic 003, all others pix are great.
i so want to go visit but i have a med condition that i can't.
can't fly .
luved your captions.

Thanks LA girl! These

Thanks LA girl! These photos were fantastic and I especially loved the captions. I wish more contributors captioned. I haven't been to Iran in 30 years and this seems to be the only website that shows photos of Iran. As a magazine photo editor I must say Iranian travelers are some of the best amateur photographers. Keep 'em coming.

thank you so much

I was planning on going to Iran this summer but my plans changed the last minute :-(
looking at your pictures and reading your comments felt wonderful though.
Thanks for taking me back home

Isfahan,Tehran and LA

What would make anyone leave LA for Tehran or Isfahan?

I've known many Iranians immigrate to the US, as soon as they obtain US citizenship they are back in Iran in a blink of an eye.

The US passport just opens up doors for Iranians to travel.

Becoming a naturalized US Citizen has become one big scam to travel around the world.

By the way, Iranians can make more money in Dubai, than in the US.

On top of that, compare the economy of Toronto to the City of Buffalo, New York. Buffalo is the first big city you see when coming from Toronto. Buffalo is one of the biggest slums in America. Why would anyone live there. And you make more money in Toronto.

The US, in reality, is never the final destination of Iranians. Even LA or Beverly Hills is a temporary fix. People usually return to Iran.

After 8 years of the Bush presidency the image of the US is tarnished. As a result, one sees Iranians with 3 nationalities. Some Iranians hold 3 passports: Iranian, American and an EU passport.