Mourners
Mourning begins with loss. Every year during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, Shia Muslims mourn the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, killed at the battle of Karbala in 680. For these days, mourners set aside their daily lives and, for a time, become strangers to themselves. This series follows two mourning traditions, one held by women and one by men. In Khorramabad, in Lorestan, women take part in Chehel Menbar: veiled and silent, they go from house to house to light candles. In Bijar, in Kurdistan, men perform Gel-Giran: they cover themselves in mud and beat their chests while chanting laments. One ritual is silent, the other loud; one uses candles, the other mud. The series won second prize in the Staged Portraits category of World Press Photo 2013, and two of its photographs are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Mourners 1 Mourners 2 Mourners 3 Mourners 4 Mourners 5 Mourners 6 Mourners 7 Mourners 8 Mourners 9 Mourners 10 Mourners 11 Mourners 12 Mourners 13 Mourners 14 Mourners 15 Mourners 16 Mourners 17 Mourners 18 Mourners 19
Archival prints from this series are available to order.
Inquire