Facing South

It's amazing how a country can differ from North to South, so even being a native from anywhere, we may still be surprisingly ignorant of different cultures spread throughout our own homeland. The photos in this gallery are the result of an eagerness to discover the south part of Iran, Hormozgan Province and Qeshm Island, which I hadn't had a chance to visit before. In my approach to the women from this area I found it really challenging to take a portrait of them. Though most of them, especially in Qeshm Island, wore a type of "Niqab" and their faces wouldn't be recognized in the images, it took a lot of effort to make them feel comfortable and trust me. In some cases I had to speak to their husbands or their elder sons. The men were, however, much more willing to appear in the images. Some of them even offered to pose in front of my camera.