Parisa Azadi

A Canadian visual journalist.Based in Iran and Dubai. Available for assignments in the Middle East and Worldwide

Ordinary Grief

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Nesa Afrangeh and her friend Ya... seeking a better life abroad.

Nesa Afrangeh and her friend Yasaman Tamizkar look out the window in Tehran amid the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, Iran on June 9, 2020. Like many young Iranians, they are worried about their future. Currency collapse, unemployment, and inflation make it harder for young Iranians to make ends meet, with many of them seeking a better life abroad.

Iranian men stand along a canal... Iran on February 7, 2018. Iran

Iranian men stand along a canal running through a farmland in the district of Haji Abad on the outskirts of Borujerd, Iran on February 7, 2018. Iran

Ilam, the third largest Kurdish...ployment rates in the country.

Ilam, the third largest Kurdish city in Iran, suffered heavily from the devastating eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s. The city was a constant target for the Iraqi bombing campaigns that left the city in ruins and destroyed much of its economic infrastructure. Today, Ilam remains economically underdeveloped with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

Hossain embraces his friend Neg...ran, Iran on October 13, 2017.

Hossain embraces his friend Negar on the streets of Tehran, Iran on October 13, 2017.

Reza poses for a portrait durin...ormuz, Iran on April 19, 2019.

Reza poses for a portrait during his wedding celebration on the Island of Hormuz, Iran on April 19, 2019.

Women dance during a wedding ce... on August 3, 2018. Alamut Iran

Women dance during a wedding ceremony in the village of Alamut, Iran on August 3, 2018. Alamut Iran

Amir Hussain Roozbahani covers ... amid the pandemic. Tehran Iran

Amir Hussain Roozbahani covers his face as his family spray snow foam during his birthday celebration at home in the outskirts of Tehran, Iran on May 5, 2020. As the virus continued to spread across Iran, family visits, parties and picnics were temporarily suspended. Amir Hussain’s family held a small quiet gathering at home to celebrate his birthday amid the pandemic. Tehran Iran

Amir Hussain plays with his bir...is birthday amid the pandemic.

Amir Hussain plays with his bird on his birthday at home in the outskirts of Tehran, Iran on May 5, 2020. As the virus continued to spread across Iran, family visits, parties and picnics were temporarily suspended. Amir Hussain’s family held a small quiet gathering at home to celebrate his birthday amid the pandemic.

Nesa Afrangeh, stands for a por... to seek a better life abroad.

Nesa Afrangeh, stands for a portrait in the photographer's home in Tehran, Iran on June 5, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and high unemployment rate, Nesa was faced with the difficult decision to give up her apartment. Nesa quarantined herself in my home for a week while struggling to find a new home. The cost of living in Iran has risen dramatically since 2019. Nesa is worried about her future as currency collapse, unemployment and inflation is making it harder for her to meet basic financial demands and is pushing her to seek a better life abroad.

Nesa Afrangeh draws on Yasaman ... seeking a better life abroad.

Nesa Afrangeh draws on Yasaman Tamizkar’s arm while sleeping in the photographer's home amid the coronavirus outbreak in Tehran, Iran on June 28, 2020. Like many young Iranians, they are worried about their future. Currency collapse, unemployment, and inflation make it harder for young Iranians to make ends meet, with many of them seeking a better life abroad.

My friends Mehrnoush Panahian a...rus from contaminated objects.

My friends Mehrnoush Panahian and Yasaman Tamizkar look at an old map of Tehran hung on my wall amid the coronavirus outbreak in Tehran, Iran, April 6, 2020. The walls and windows of my new apartment remain bare and my friends gift me items to cover my wall with. Buying household items have become too risky and many Iranians worry about the possibility of picking up the coronavirus from contaminated objects.

An Iranian man and his friend t...elp them cope with the stress.

An Iranian man and his friend target practice with a gun in the mountain amid the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, Iran, April 5, 2020. Social isolation is taking a psychological toll on many Iranians who are suffering from depression, anxiety and paranoia. As the coronavirus outbreak intensifies, some Iranians are venturing outside to the mountains and wide open spaces to help them cope with the stress.

A worker cuts extra branches fr...an, Iran on February 20, 2018.

A worker cuts extra branches from a tree to be cleared away from power lines in Kilan, Iran on February 20, 2018.

An Iranian boy lays in a pool f...on August 18, 2018. Tehran Iran

An Iranian boy lays in a pool fed by an underground mineral spring called Cheshmeh Ali in the working class neighbourhood of Shahr-e-Ray on a hot Summer day in Tehran, Iran on August 18, 2018. Tehran Iran

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Public Project

Ordinary Grief

Updated May 2024

Location Iran

Topics Spotlight

Ordinary Grief is a story of tenuous reconciliation. In 2017, I returned to Iran after 25 years of self-exile, where I embarked on a personal and political reclamation of my identity and history. With images spanning 2017-2022, Ordinary Grief is my attempt to reconcile despair and joy, exhaustion and hope. It’s about ordinary Iranians actively trying to create new futures for themselves despite the odds. It’s a love letter to a country from which I feel estranged, despite having been born there, and to the people who call it home.

As a woman who grew up between East and West, straddling the line between insider and outsider, my experiences are difficult, unromantic, and fragile. I’ve realized that two decades of living outside Iran brought with them a kind of cultural and personal amnesia. Ordinary Grief is also about what it means to forget and what it means to (try to) remember. Always, I’m attuned to joy, despite the hardships: I sought moments of serenity, celebration, and ritual in the shadows of perpetual grief. The photographs mark the passage of time as they document physical, emotional, and political limbo: they question what it means to long and to belong.

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