Photos taken by Mahdi Ehsaei
The blogosphere has been buzzing about beautiful photos of Afro-Iranians making their way across the web. The photos are part of an upcoming photography book, Afro-Iran | The Unknown Minority by Mahdi Ehsaei.
According to his website, Ehsaei, a German-born Iranian, developed the photographic series of this population that is largely unknown, even to Iranians. The author writes:
“A trip to a place which is inhabited and dominated by the descendants of enslaved people and traders from Africa. The Hormozgan province in the Persian Gulf is a traditional and historical region with a diverse and unexplored population. It is framed with unique landscapes and people with profound personalities. Iranians, who still have African blood in them, continue their African heritage with their clothing style, music, dance, oral traditions and rituals.Â
The resulting portraits reveal new facets and unfamiliar faces, which are not typical for the common picture of Iran. They show details documenting the centuries-long history of this ethnic minority. A confrontation between the Persian culture and for Iran, the unusual, African consciousness.”
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of the award-winning news blog, the Burton Wire.
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