Afro-Iran: The Unknown Minority

Mahdi Ehsaei is a German-Iranian photographer and designer based in Germany who is running a Kickstarter campaign to support the publication of his book Afro-Iran: The Unknown Minority. This book will feature what he states, “is a side of Iran, which is widely unknown even to Iranians: a minority of people who influenced the culture of a whole region by continuing their African heritage with their clothing style, their music, their dance and their oral traditions and rituals.”

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Afro-Iran: The Unknown Minority

According to Ehsaei he,

“set out to the Hormozgan Province in the Persian Gulf to shed some light on this part of Iran, which is home to the descendants of enslaved people and traders from Africa. The traditional and historical region with one of Iran’s most ethnically diverse populations is framed with unique landscapes. The photo book shows fascinating portraits which are not typical for the common picture of Iran. ‘Afro-Iran’ reveals details documenting a centuries-long history of a community, which is often overlooked in Iran’s history, but which has even shaped the culture in Southern Iran.”

“These two children in one of the villages near Bandar Abbas are cousins. They show the present cultural diversity in Iran.”

“The ‘Chador Bandari’ is a lightweight garment worn on the outside by women in the southern parts of Iran. This Afro-Iranian woman with her baby is a perfect example of Persian and Western culture colliding.”

“A woman wearing a traditional mask named Borkeh selling vegetables at the Thursday’s Bazar Market in Minab, one of the cities near Bandar Abbas (Capital of Hormozgan).”

“The southern area of Iran is a very vibrant place with unique and vividly colored clothing, usually among women.”

“The Hormozgan Province in the Persian Gulf is a traditional and historical region with a diverse and unexplored population. It is framed with unique landscapes and people with profound personalities.”

“Rain water lake in Hormuz Island.”

“A man leaning against one of the most sold cars in Iran, a Kia Pride. The nearly extinct cult car is the Peykan.”

“The Khaj-e-Ata Beach in Bandar Abbas (capital of Hormozgan) rests against the Persian Gulf. It is a popular place for inhabitants and tourists. Afternoons are filled with children playing on the beach.”

“The southern area of Iran is a very vibrant place with unique and vividly colored clothing, usually among women.”

The inspiration for this project for Ehsaei comes from the Russian-Iranian photographer Antoin Sevruguin.

“He was one of the first photographers and only artists who captured the demographic and ethnic groups which lived in Iran, and visually documented the diverse population of Iran for the first time. Sevruguin decided to create his own survey of the people, landscape, and architecture of Iran. Sevruguin’s work shows how much potential ethnographical photography can have in order to understand a population better, even after more than 100 years. That was the moment when I decided to work on the topic of Afro-Iranians. My inspiration strengthened me more to document the widely unknown minority. A photo series which shows a firsthand account of the current presence of the often overlooked Afro-Iranians for the first time.”

Support the KickStarter campaign and help Mahdi Ensaei publish this important book: