A group of third-graders at a high-end private school in northern Tehran play sangsar (stoning), a game similar to dodgeball. According to Islamic Shiite law in Iran, when a girl turns nine she is considered to be mature enough to take on life and her religious responsibilities. The definition of these responsibilities varies throughout the country.
A group of third-graders at a high-end private school in northern Tehran play sangsar (stoning), a game similar to dodgeball. According to Islamic Shiite law in Iran, when a girl turns nine she is considered to be mature enough to take on life and her religious responsibilities. The definition of these responsibilities varies throughout the country.
Musings: Coming of Age in Iran
Hayeri is an insider—born, raised, and currently living in Tehran—but she is also an outsider, having lived in Toronto and studied at Ryerson University. “I was very comfortable with photography because I didn’t have to explain myself, so I started to relate to it very well,” she says. For Hayeri, storytelling is a key motivation and photography the means to that expression. “As an artist, you’re telling your own story through your art, whereas a photographer or a documentarian [is] telling other people’s stories.”
Living in Tehran means leading a dual life. “Growing up with that culture, you learn you live at home in a way, and then on the streets it’s different.” Women are instructed to wear a hijab to
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