PHOTOSTORIES
Mostafa photographs incredible minimalist landscape scenes from around his home town in northern Iran
Photo essays from PhotoPlus readers and professional photographers alike
I aman Iranian artist and self-taught photographer based in Gilan, on the northern coast of Iran. I’ve been hugely inspired by minimalism and black and white photography, and have created my own minimalist style incorporating powerful themes, ideas and symbolism in my photos.
While photography is my preferred medium today, my background is in painting and I recognize the link between the two art forms. I often try to include painterly aspects in my photos, which I think gives them a certain style and unique look.
These images are all from the mountainous and beautiful village I was born in: Gilan in Rudbar, Iran. My work is highly symbolic, and barren landscapes, steps in the snow, structures representing buildings or cages, birds flying to freedom, tiny people in front of large buildings, ladders, roads and endless staircases can be considered lifeless. They all refer to a trip, a long slow walk and the routes you have to choose.
I like my photos to have a poetic quality and be existential in nature, inviting the viewer to reflect on the deeper questions of life, such as: what does it all mean?
Even when my work and home life we
