Ancient Persia, Modern Iran: March 1st - March 14th, 2018
Persia to some, Iran to others, the evil empire to many is on the list of top destinations for the inquisitive traveler/photographer. Persia, an exotic land is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations is a modern country of over 70 million people that since 1935 has been called Iran. The people are friendly and warm, their hospitality is ever present whether meeting them in coffee houses, on the street, in the bazaar or rural villages or at the mosques.This photography expedition is not about politics but about getting to know the people as they go about their daily life and to capture images of the magnificent mosques, wonderful gardens, scenic beauty, friendly bazaars and nomadic shepherds
Tehran is a fascinating fusion of old and new; conservative elders uphold the traditions of the country’s past while the young and fashionable find ways to celebrate in a country that bans alcohol. The city itself may be crowded and a little dusty, but the grit gives it flavor and even color. In Tehran, we will photograph the Golestan Palace complex, which dates from the Qajar rulers, followed by the labyrinthine Tehran bazaar, the Azadi tower and the political grafitti on the walls of the "Den of Espionage". ItineraryDay 1: Arrival in Tehran
Upon arrival at Iman Khomeni International airport we will be transported to the centrally located Espinas Hotel located in downtown Tehran. It is suggested that the group have a central meeting place in a major city where we can make the needed connection to Tehran. As the trip gets closer a meeting place will be shared with the group. Passing through customs was done with ease on our March 2016 photography tour. We will meet in the hotel lobby in the early evening and have a trip orientation with diner to follow. O/N Espinas Hotel (B,L,D) Day 2: Tehran We will start the day by photographing the UNESCO heritage site, the Golestan Palace. The lavish Golestan Palace is a masterpiece of the Qajar era, embodying the successful integration of earlier Persian crafts and architecture with Western influences. Built around a garden featuring pools as well as planted areas, the Palace’s most characteristic features and rich ornaments date from the 19th century. It became a center of Qajari arts and architecture of which it is an outstanding example and has remained a source of inspiration for Iranian artists and architects to this day. It represents a new style incorporating traditional Persian arts and crafts and elements of 18th century architecture and technology. Located in walking distance is the Grand Bazaar with its maze of bustling alleys and the bazaris.Traders have been hawking their wares on this site for nearly 1000 years, but most of what you see today is less than 200 years old The bazaris are a conservative bunch and there will be far more chadors than bleached hair here. The bazaar’s covered stores line more than 10km of lanes. The warren of people and goods is a city within a city and includes guesthouses, banks, a church, a fire station and several mosques, Most lanes specialize in a particular commodity: copper, paper, gold, spices and carpets, among others. We will also photograph tobacconists, shoemakers, tailors, broadcloth sellers, bookbinders, flag sellers, haberdashers, saddlers, tinsmiths, knife-makers and carpenters. Way out west at the end of Azadi Avenue is the inverted Y-shaped Azadi Tower, built in 1971 to commemorate the 2500th anniversary of the first Persian empire. After being closed for years, the tower reopened in 2006. The exterior is clad with more than 8000 cut stones, while inside you can see the complex structural engineering in concrete that forms the bones of architect Hossein Amanat’s design. O/N Espinas Hotel (B,L,D) Day 3: Tehran - Qom We will photograph the Den of Espionage. Decorated with colourful 'down with America' murals, the former US embassy is where the 1953 coup that brought down Mohammad Mossadegh was orchestrated. During the revolution, students who feared a repeat coup stormed the embassy in November 1979 and held 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. The group will photograph the former residence of the last Royal Family of Iran at Sa’adabad Palace/Museum Complex in north Tehran, and close to the mountains. We will also visit the local Tajrish Bazaar if time permits. After lunch we will make the 2 hours, 110 miles journey to the holy city of Qom. It is here that we will photograph the Fatima Masumeh Shrine. The pilgrims, massive mosque complex are all visually compelling. If there is one place in Iran which can be called the cradle and center of Shiism, Qom is that place. Hazrat-e Masumeh, the daughter of the seventh Imam and the sister of Imam Reza, fell ill in 816 at Saveh and it was to Qom that she was brought. This shrine is the physical and spiritual center of Qom. It has two huge domes, various courtyards and exquisite tiled minarets.. The magnificent golden cupola was an embellishment built by Qajar ruler Fath Ali Shah. O/N Hotel Al Zahar (B,L,D) Day 4: Qom - Kashan - Isfahan Early morning photography opportunity in Fatima Masumeh Mosque and then back to the hotel for breakfast. The sunrises at 6:30 in early March in Qom. We will drive to Kashan and visit the historical garden of Fin which was first planted during the Safavid period and kept alive with water from the nearby Sulaimanieh Spring. This beautiful garden was expanded by the Zand and Qajar monarchs, with many open pavilions added. We will also visit a fine example of a 19th-century merchant residence known as Borujerdi House with its beautiful stucco dome and inlaid mirror work, with some of the best examples of existing “badgirs” (wind-catchers); Lunch will be in Kashan and afterwards we will make the drive to Esfahan and check into our hotel. The total travel distance today will be 300 miles. O/N Hotel Abbas (B,L,D) DAY 5: Isfahan Today we will photograph the beautiful city of Isfahan, the 17th century capital of the Safavids, referred to as Nesf-e-Jahan (Half of the World) in Safavid sources, to visit the famous bridges of Shahrestan/Khajou/Sio-se-pol, the Armenian Quarter with several churches, including the important Cathedral of Vank. The art work painted ionteh walls inthe Armenian Chirch depicts battles in the afternoon visit one of the world’s grandest squares, the Maidan-e-Naghsh-e-Jahan, with several sites (the Ali-Qapu Palace with its enchanting music rooms and balcony overlooking the Maidan, from where the Safavid Kings watched polo games, and two of Islamic world’s greatest mosques – the Sheikh Lotfollah and the Shah—with magnificent architecture and tilework), finishing with a visit to the Qeisarieh Bazaar with hundreds of shops displaying the arts and handicrafts for which Isfahan is world-famous. O/N Hotel Abbas (B,L,D) DAY 6: Isfahan Another full day photographing Isfahan. We will visit the magnificent Friday Mosque, with the famous Uljaitu Mihrab (Prayer Niche) of the Il-Khanid period. The Friday Mosque is considered a museum of a thousand years of Persian religious architecture and is truly one of the world’s greatest mosques. Also visit the Harun-e-Velayat Shrine and the Ali Minaret. From here drive to the Chehel Sotun Palace, built by Shah Abbas II in the 17th century; its wooden columns reflected in the surface of the pool give rise to its name ‘The Palace of Forty Columns’. Final stop of the day is at the Hasht Behesht pavilion built in 1670 by Shah Solayman and known as the Pavilion of Eight Paradises or the Palace of Nightingales. The small but intricate building is set amongst tree-lined alleys, a reflecting pool and water rills. O/N Hotel Abbas (B,L,D) Day 7: Isfahan - Shiraz Today will be a travel day as we will make the 300 mile road trip to Shiraz. The group will have a picnic lunch en route. Upon arrival in Shiraz we will check into our hotel and have dinner. O/N Hotel Homa or Zandiyah (B,L,D) Day 8: Shiraz We will start the day with a morning photo shoot at the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque. It seems like a fairly traditional house of worship, but it’s hiding a gorgeously colorful secret. It’s also known as the “Pink Mosque” for the rose-colored tiles that cover the interior. The stained glass windows are magnificent and when the sun pours through the photo opportunities are amazing. The group will also wander the Vakil Bazaar where we can photograph the spice merchants, carpet sellers, dried fruit vendors and tailors. We will stop in for a water pipe smoke in a converted bath house. Lunch will be in the most well know traditional restaurant in Shiraz. O/N Hotel Homa or Zandiyah (B,L,D) Day 9: Shiraz Full day photographing some of the famous gardens of this city of “roses and nightingales”, including the Eram Garden, the tomb of Iran’s greatest lyric poets, Hafez and Sa'adi; the Arg-e-Karim Khan (18th-century citadel), the Madrassa Khan (Theological School), to have interaction with teachers and students, the Qajar-period Narenjestan Garden/House which is adorned with intricate mirror work. In these public gardens we will see religious worship, families picnicking and local life. O/N Hotel Homa or Zandiyah (B,L,D) Day 10: Shiraz - Firuzabad Drive 110km to the southeast of Shiraz, to Firuzabad, which was the traditional winter settlement of the Qashqai tribe/nomads some of whom still live in the small village. Firuzabad is also an ancient town, built by Sassanian King Ardashir in 220 A.D., as his royal residence; the place known today as Firuzabad was originally called Ardashir-Khurra meaning the “Glory of Ardashir”, and it was a walled city, circular in shape, with four gates located at each cardinal point. A square minaret of rubble stone rose to almost one hundred feet in the center of the city, remains of which is all that survives. Nearby stands the enormous palace of Ardashir, built on the plain with a view over a small natural lake. You will visit the Qashgai village to interact with the people and see their way of life and the domestic textile and rug workshops; overnight stay at the modest and small. Due to the limited number of rooms at the hotel group members will need to share rooms. O/N Tourist Inn (B,L,D) Day 11: Firozabad - Qashqai Camp - Shiraz The Qashqais, part of the Turkic-speaking tribes of Iran, unlike the Bakhtiaries, use the low and flat lands, and the routes along main roads, and through rural areas, between their winter settlements and their summer settlements, for their annual migration. The Qashqais start their migration from their winter settlements, in the south of Fars Province, and the Ghir and Karzin area, in early spring, to their summer settlements in the northeastern slopes of Mount Dena, near the towns of Semirom and Padena, and return to their winter settlements in September/October. On this day, with an early start, we will drive for about two hours to the Ghir and Karzin area, where the nomads set up their winter camps, visit them and have a chance of getting to know their life style as they go about their daily chores; in the afternoon drive back to Firuzabad and continue to Shiraz. O/N Hotel Homa or Zandiyah (B,L,D) Day 12: Shiraz Zurkhaneh is a combination of strength training and religious training practiced by men in small social clubs. Zoorkhaneh is a gymnasium in which traditional Iranian sport is practiced. It was originally made to train warriors and therefore has always been a men-zone ever since. It’s a combination of martial arts and strength training with music and dates back to pre-Islamic times. The Morshed (the singer) is the one who leads the athletes and dictates the pace by beating a goblet drum (zarb) while reciting Gnostic poems and stories from Persian mythology.We will photograph these athletes in action. Those interested may join a private cooking class for an additional fee. Then it’s to the Fars Textile Museum which is a luxurious Shirazi house for a short course about Fars textiles. There will be a traditional Persian ceremony serving different Persian foods, reading Hafiz poetry and playing Persian music. O/N Hotel Homa or Zandiyah (B,L,D) Day 13: Shiraz - Tehran We will take a morning flight back to Tehran. The group will have the afternoon free to wander in downtown Tehran. The trip will end with a farewell dinner. Those taking late night flights will be driven to the airport. O/N Hotel Espinas (B,L,D) Day 14: Tehran - Imam Khomeini International Airport Group transfer to the airport for flight back home (B) |
Trip DetailsTrip Dates: March 1st - March 14th, 2018
Tour Cost $6,950 Trip Deposit $1,000 Single Supplement (if available) $850 Couples Discount $300 Maximum Group Size 10 2 SPOTS OPEN Register Here Trip leaders: Jeremy Woodhouse & Herb Leventon This trip is limited to only 10 participants. ExperiencesPhotograph the intricate Islamic architecture of 17th century Isfahan. The blue mosaic tiles and roof spires at sunset are awe inspiring.
In Tehran photograph the merchants in the grand bazaar. Meet and befriend the local population in coffee houses Photograph the UNESCO Golestan Palace. Morning shoot at the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque known as the pink mosque when the sunlight comes in through the stained glass windows. In Shiraz the group will wander the 1000 year old Vakil Bazaar where we can photograph the spice merchants, carpet sellers, dried fruit vendors and tailors. We will stop in for a water pipe smoke in a converted bath house. |