A long Mourning

‘Along mourning’ documents the commemoration of Ashura by Shiite community in Iran. Ashura is the tenth day of Moharram, the first Islamic month. For Shiites particularly it is a day of mourning recalling the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (grandson of the prophet Mohammed) at Karbala in 680 AD. Each year during ten days, crowds of mourners attend commemorative services, reciting elegies, passion plays as well as processions of chest beating and self-flagellation, the tenth day being the climax of this dramatic tension. Hoping to widen the understanding of the Shiite community, this series focuses on the sociological and artistic aspect of the commemoration and explores the power of religious passion. The photographs illustrate diverse strategies in which collective memory is materialized: massive mourning processions, collective prayer or drama productions elicit strong emotion of sorrow and grief. At the same time the series shows how men and women negotiate public and private space, the roles of each during the commemoration and the intricate connection between of politic and the religious narrative of Ashura.