This is an online version of an exhibit that opened in New York in July 2009. The exhibit is currently on display at Club H, 423 W. 55th St., New York.





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Introduction

From March 2008 to April 2009, my partner and I traveled throughout the Muslim world, passing through a majority of the world’s majority Muslim countries, eight of the ten countries with the world’s largest Muslim populations and countries containing over 70% (over a billion) of the world’s Muslim people. Among all of the places we visited, from Sulawesi to Sarajevo and from Dakar to Dhaka, our month in Iran no doubt stands as one of the most memorable of our trip. With the print and video footage of recent protests in Iran, Americans may finally be getting a better sense of what Iran is really like. Iran is far from the violent fundamentalist state that some right-wing politicians in both Iran and America would have you believe; it is a fiercely proud nation that is full of young, educated and outward-looking men and women.

Any impression that you may have of Iranians hating America or believing America to be the “Great Satan” is largely misguided. In fact, many Iranians have an overwhelming fondness for America and Americans. More so than in any other country we have visited, almost everyone reacted favorably to our being American. When we told one older lady that we were American, she cooed, “Ooh—great! We love Americans!” One Swiss tourist said that before she arrived in Iran she was afraid that people would think she was American, and react badly to her. “I was so wrong,” she told us, “Iranians love Americans. They all want to go to America!” We saw one man wearing second-hand U.S. military clothing and many others wearing New York Yankees baseball caps or stars and stripes in one form or another. One young man insisted on writing in my notebook, in English, “The people of Iran love the people of the U.S.A.,” and wanted me to distribute his message in the U.S.

I hope you enjoy the exhibit. If you’re as clueless about Iran as I was before my visit, I hope it opens a small window and encourages you to learn more.





Provocative Propaganda
Former U.S. Embassy, Tehran





Looking Out
Natural History Museum, Esfahan





Dome
Imam Mosque, Esfahan





Smile!
Regent's Mosque, Shiraz





Through the Gateway of All Nations
Persepolis





Retail
Tehran Bazaar





Answering the Call
Friday Mosque, Kerman





Vroom
Shiraz





Buying Bread
Kerman





Women / Men
Restroom, Zanjan





If You Have To...
Regent's Bazaar, Kerman





Young Women
Yazd





Young Woman
Esfahan





Young Man
Hamedan





Bearded Man
Zanjan





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