honorable mention
Reza Heidari italy
title
Danger is closer than what we think – a border crossing story
He is originally Afghan but was born in Iran and grew up as an Afghan immigrant. The German government returns him to Afghanistan, but Hossein has to reach his family in Iran.
On his father's advice, he tried to obtain a passport in Afghanistan and then apply for an Iran visa to legally go to Iran. After three months of waiting, he decides to smuggle his way to Iran suffering endurable conditions; exhausting walking, hunger and thirst, insomnia, smuggler violence, and shooting by border police.
He arrived in Mashhad in twenty days.
It took ten days to go from Herat city to Nimruz, and finally, he reached the Pakistani border and then from Pakistan to the border city- Zahedan in Iran, along with 120 other Afghans in a truck. In the border city of Zahedan, smugglers distributed people in different cars to the next town in Iran, every 14 persons in one car. Hossein was in the trunk with three other people. The vehicle had to pass several cities to reach Tehran. There were police checkpoints to track down illegal travellers and smugglers on the way. So, they drive fast on the road in the dark and in the heavy rain. In these unsafe conditions, they travelled for miles. On the road to Yazd, one tire goes flat. The car derails off the road and overturns. Some people inside the vehicle are injured. One person dies, and Hossein's spinal cord is torn.
Hossein left home with healthy legs but returned home in a wheelchair…
During my immigration to Iran, I also founded the Golshahr group of photographers and trained about 100 young afghan girls and boys in photography. The group is still active in Iran and has held three joint exhibitions with photographers from Brazil, Russia and Japan. The group has a page on Instagram and Facebook called everydaygolshahr, which has more than 60,000 followers.
I currently live in Rome, Italy.
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entry description
Hossein migrated from Iran to Europe four years ago. After eight months in a refugee camp in Germany, he decided to return home for his son.He is originally Afghan but was born in Iran and grew up as an Afghan immigrant. The German government returns him to Afghanistan, but Hossein has to reach his family in Iran.
On his father's advice, he tried to obtain a passport in Afghanistan and then apply for an Iran visa to legally go to Iran. After three months of waiting, he decides to smuggle his way to Iran suffering endurable conditions; exhausting walking, hunger and thirst, insomnia, smuggler violence, and shooting by border police.
He arrived in Mashhad in twenty days.
It took ten days to go from Herat city to Nimruz, and finally, he reached the Pakistani border and then from Pakistan to the border city- Zahedan in Iran, along with 120 other Afghans in a truck. In the border city of Zahedan, smugglers distributed people in different cars to the next town in Iran, every 14 persons in one car. Hossein was in the trunk with three other people. The vehicle had to pass several cities to reach Tehran. There were police checkpoints to track down illegal travellers and smugglers on the way. So, they drive fast on the road in the dark and in the heavy rain. In these unsafe conditions, they travelled for miles. On the road to Yazd, one tire goes flat. The car derails off the road and overturns. Some people inside the vehicle are injured. One person dies, and Hossein's spinal cord is torn.
Hossein left home with healthy legs but returned home in a wheelchair…
about the photographer
I studied filmmaking in 2001 at the Iranian Youth Cinema Association. During these years, I do most of the behind-the-scenes photography. I have made a short ten-minute documentary called Displaced My Mother, which is about Afghan working children in Iran. I served as professor of photography at Kabul University, Faculty of Fine Arts, for a year. I managed and held the Kabul Breath project, which was an educational tournament, competition and photo exhibition in collaboration with the French Institute in Kabul.During my immigration to Iran, I also founded the Golshahr group of photographers and trained about 100 young afghan girls and boys in photography. The group is still active in Iran and has held three joint exhibitions with photographers from Brazil, Russia and Japan. The group has a page on Instagram and Facebook called everydaygolshahr, which has more than 60,000 followers.
I currently live in Rome, Italy.
back to gallery