This book is not about Iran. This book is a photographic perception of Iran. A book about Iran would imply the conveyance of ideas and notions about it. Yet within these pages, you will find nothing of the historic, linguistic, political, cultural, or any of the broader context necessary to obtain substantial and deeper insight into a place as rich, as diverse, and as old as Iran. There are many different perceptions of Iran and, depending upon the reader of this book, the photographic representations of people and places in the following three chapters can be interpreted as adhering to any one of these. Yet unless you have spent time in Iran yourself you have only ever been exposed to others' perceptions of it. These generally offer little understanding of what Iran is, as a culture in its own right, because they tend to narrow it down into single defining elements through a distinct visual language of symbols. Text in English and Farsi. AUTHOR: Sam Asaert (°1987) is a Belgian freelance photographer and documentary filmmaker. He focuses mainly on social, cultural and religious conflicts. Sam Asaert is an award-winning filmmaker & visual storyteller with 20 years of professional film-making experience and 15 years of journalistic storytelling experience. SELLING POINTS: . A book on Iran would involve the transmission of ideas and notions about it, yet in these pages you will find nothing of the historical, linguistic, political, cultural or more general context to gain an in-depth insight into a place as rich, diverse and as old as Iran . Rather than stripping Iranians of their individuality and reducing them to symbols corresponding to certain perceptions of Iran, the photographs and texts in this book aspire to implore you not to view Iranians as a singular mass, but as a collection of various own thoughts and emotions, opinions and attitudes, perspectives and aspirations, dialects and senses of humour, personalities and personal stories 222 colour illustrations
