Public Project
The Pursuit of Happiness
Copyright Khashayar Javanmardi | MAMAAT Project 2024
Updated May 2020
Location Istanbul
Topics Civil Rights, Community, Documentary, Gay Rights, Gender, Human Rights, Immigration, Lesbian, Migration, Photography, Politics, Portraiture, Religion, Sexuality, Spotlight

The Pursuit of Happyness

Khashayar Javanmardi

I was in the first grade. My teacher said that ‘My best students live abroad, they immigrated.’ My parents talked about their classmates who lived abroad.
My aunts, uncles, my extended family, and my distant relatives migrated one by one. Going abroad for me meant a better life, more respect and civil freedom, more peace of mind, and better welfare. In short, to me, life was defined somewhere beyond my country’s borders. At university I realized that I was not alone, all my classmates who were also born in the 90s had decided to migrate.
One year and a half ago I left Iran and came to Turkey. Here I found out that thousands of Iranians with claims of their lives being threatened by the violation of their social, religious, political, and sexual rights have applied for the UN refugee program and they live in Turkey for years with the dream of resettlement in the US, Australia or Canada.
These photos are the narrative of me and my acquaintances’ decision to migrate for our lives and our future.
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The Pursuit of Happiness by Khashayar Javanmardi | MAMAAT Project
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