Iran Series- HONY

I remember this photo as though it were yesterday (August 26, 2015).  I don't think I could fully articulate the poignant feelings he shared at the time. Now, I think what resonated with me  was the pinpoint of time when he felt his father's love. My parents and siblings, aunties and uncles tell stories very much like what he shared. Pivotal moments that might seem like nothing to anyone else, but were of significant changes in how you saw the world. Powerful storyteller. 

“My mother died when I was two years old, so it’s just me and my father. He’s been really angry with me lately. He’s always wanted me to be an engineer like him, but I switched my major to photography. He didn’t’ show any emotion when I told him. He always has a poker face. But I know that he’s angry from the little things. He never asks me to go shopping with him anymore. We used to go to the market together. He’d pick up a watermelon, inspect it, then would hand it to me for my opinion. It doesn’t sound like much but I really valued that time together. But once I changed my major, he stopped asking me to come along. But I think things are getting better. Recently I scored in the top 5th percentile on the University Entrance Exam for photography. When I told my father, he didn’t show any emotion. But the next day he asked me if I wanted to go shopping. And that made me so happy. Because it’s just the two of us. And I really, really, really, really love him.” 

(Tehran, Iran)