"Iranian makeup": how and what do oriental women paint
Every day photographers around the world looking for new ways to tell stories or to capture what we previously did not notice. We choose interesting photo projects and ask their authors what they wanted to say. This week we are publishing the project of the photographer Mona Hubefekr, for whom she shot portraits of young Iranian women and asked them to show what cosmetics they use.
I thought about this project for a long time - it means a lot to me, since I am an Iranian myself. I decided to study the issue of Iranian makeup seriously, I began to look for articles and news in the press on this topic. It turned out that Iranian women occupy the second place in the volume of consumption of cosmetics in the entire Middle East. Another important point was to determine exactly how to investigate and present this problem with the help of photography. Having tried several different ideas, I realized that the best way was to remove the contents of cosmetics bags - she always carries with herself and, as it seems to me, the set of favorite means well reflects the personality of the girl. Moreover, due to the fact that women in my country should wear a headscarf, their makeup is usually combined with it - so I decided that it would be logical to remove both the portrait of each heroine and the makeup on the headscarf.
All participants or my friends, or friends of friends who attracted them to the shooting. I chose from a variety of candidates, based on their appearance and favorite type of makeup. In general, this project did not have the task of comparing Iranian culture, including in the field of perception of appearance, with cultures of other countries and labeling it as "good" or "bad." However, I basically chose only Iranian girls and women as young as 30 from different social strata as heroines. After some time they would have been completely different. Each culture has its own characteristics, and this difference, in my opinion, is beautiful. Each country is unique due to its culture. I don’t even compare heroines to each other, because each of them has its own separate individual culture, world view and personality. Working on the project, I tried my best to maintain objectivity.
All the heroines are different, but most of them do not use make-up to hide or disguise something. The only thing that drives them is the desire to convey and emphasize the feminine beauty. Some achieve this with makeup, some without it. The most important, as it seems to me and as seen from the photos, are the eyes in Iranian makeup. So in most cosmetic bags will necessarily be a mascara, and only then lipstick and powder.
I remember when I was a child, my dad had a camera on which he shot all the significant events in the life of his family. Growing up, I looked at these photos as a miracle, and remembered my childhood. In high school, I realized that I can shoot myself, then I studied photography at the university and worked at the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA). For nine years I have been involved in photojournalism and documentary, but I still love to try new things and have a thrill attitude to artistic photography. On the other hand, honesty in photography has always been an important moment for me and I really want to help the people of my country and the whole world and show them something that they didn’t guess. I love to look around, take pictures a lot, learn something new every day and discover other worlds. I want my photos to become a window into my inner world for people from all over the world.
Delaram abbasi
15 years
She uses cosmetics from 13 years. The first lipstick Delaram bought mom. Most often, every couple of months, she buys compact powder.
Asra Mohammadi
18 years old, entrant
Asra only recently began to be painted. Her mother is a makeup artist, so the girl most often uses her makeup.
Hanie Gharemani
19 years old, math student
Hanie believes that girls are painted to look more attractive in the eyes of men. She learned about make-up at the age of 9 from TV shows that were watched on satellite TV. She loves experimenting with cosmetics and completely changes her image every 3-4 months. Chanie perceives make-up as a way to highlight the beauty of a woman’s face, which is more than relevant for Iranians who are forced to wear hijab.
Reyhaneh Gharemani
21 year industrial designer
She has been painted since she was 15 and buys cosmetics for $ 35 every two months. Reykhaneh especially likes eyeliner and mascara, and what brand is unimportant. She loves to do makeup so much that she is beautiful even when she spends the whole day at home.
Parnaz Jamali
22 years old, student architect and teacher of English
When Parnaz was 13, she noticed that the girls in her family were wearing makeup. She rarely buys cosmetics, but loves lipstick very much. Parnaz earns $ 200 a month and spends $ 25 every two months on personal care. She often looks in the mirror and does not miss a single window in which to look at her reflection.
Zahra Sadat Hosseini (Sara)
22 years industrial designer
Makeup helps Sarah feel more confident. She has been painting since the age of 16 and believes that Iranian women use cosmetics in order to raise low self-esteem. It is much easier to do this by wearing a mask and posing as another person.
Zahra Malekshahi
22 years, economist
Zahra made her first makeup when she was 18. She prefers to carry a minimum of cosmetics and is sure that Iranian women are brightly colored because they have to wear hijab and hide their bodies altogether.
Aliya Zand
23 years old, student economist
She has been painted since the age of 16 and buys cosmetics for $ 50 every month. According to Alia, it is difficult to find cosmetics of famous brands in Iran. She is sure that people will think that something has happened if she doesn’t make up.
Haleh Sogol Barakat
27 years old, journalist and makeup artist
Spends on cosmetics 30 dollars a month, if he sits without a permanent job, but if there is an opportunity to earn some extra money, this amount grows to 250 dollars. It happens that Haleh sits without work for several months.
Maryam Yousefi
29 years old, student gymnast
Does makeup 2-3 times a day. Maryam started painting when she was 15, now she spends $ 60 a month on cosmetics and that case looks in the mirror during the day, especially while sitting in her car.
Ghazal Mafakheri
28 years old, photographer
For the first time, Ghazal put on her makeup at the age of 17. Now she spends about $ 200 a year on cosmetics and is confident that Iranian girls are so much painted because this is, firstly, a cultural tradition and, secondly, a side effect of how Muslim women dress.
Malineh Motaji
28 years old, graphic designer
Malineh renews his makeup twice a day and consistently spends $ 60 a month on cosmetics. She does not paint in only two situations: when she is late or goes to the gym. Malineh believes that modern women take makeup for granted and have long been painted without hesitation.
Nina Fatan
30 years old, artist
When Nina was 15, she continually used her mother's makeup. She bought most of her cosmetic bag contents in Turkey and Sweden, with the exception of a couple of items purchased in Iran. In a month she spends about $ 50 on cosmetics, but this item of expenses always depends on how stable her budget is at the moment. Nina likes to look in the mirror so much that she does her homework, looking at her reflection.