Strolling around Shariati avenue, near Qolhak neigbourhood, Tehran. August 2012.
The photographer Roozbeh Shahrestani says: “Although, one might not be able to convey fully the atmosphere of these places, but perhaps with a momentary pause and a brief look the viewer get some sense of them.”
Valiahd Square (Now ‘Valiasr’) as seen in the 1970s postcards.
Valiasr Square is one of the main squares in Tehran, adjoining Valiasr Street, Keshavarz Boulevard and Karim Khan Zand Avenue.
Tehran’s Amirabad Neighbourhood (2012)
“Amirabad is the neighbourhood that I have lived in more than any other place in Tehran.” says the photographer, Roozbeh Shahrestani. “These two sets of photographs are actually more than a personal report; it is a personal time travel to a relatively distant past by wandering along streets and alleys of this district of the city.”
Ferdowsi Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Tehran and it used to be called Ala’odoleh Avenue in Qajar period. It runs from Toopkhane in the south and after passing through Istanbul intersection it ends in Ferdowsi Square in the north.
Warning against dumping trash is the dominant graffiti on Iranian walls. The graffiti sometimes is accompanied by cursing or threats against the person who dumps trash.
These pictures were taken in a neighborhood in Shiraz on April 14, 2012.
With the destruction of Lalehzar’s oldest theaters not much of its historic buildings will remain. These pictures show the last remnants of Lalehzar’s once great buildings and its historic past. (→ See old Lalezar avenue)
Constructed in the 1880s, Lalezar avenue – also known as “Champs-Elysées of Tehran”- was once a symbol of modernity in a pre-modern country. There were many well-known theatres, restaurants, nightclubs, bars, cinemas and shops in Lalezar Avenue. (→ See today’s Lalezar Avenue)
Congratulating and complimenting others has been a long tradition among Iranians but publishing congratulatory messages in newspapers and placing of banners and signs in highly visible public places is a new popular phenomenon.
These signs and ads, especially the ones that have been written on banners, may not be common anywhere else in the world.
Walking in the Iranian streets one always can see the never-ending process of street maintenance and repairs that might continue for quite a long time. The result of these constant repairs are manhole covers, grates and water valves that are part scenery in every Iranian city and town.
Murals in Tehran used to have mostly political and revolutionary themes but from the early 90s a new style of mural emerged, which is merely decorative.
