Transit Tehran

Like other international cities, Tehran is filled with the religious, the irreligious and the indifferent. However, for a capital much in the news, its secrets are well-guarded - parties where the kids let rip; falling in love with someone whose face is never seen; random breath-testing of pedestrians for alcohol; religious acceptance of transsexuals; needle exchanges in public parks; and, martyrdom demonstrations. In "Transit Tehran", city-insiders, rappers, artists, writers and photo-journalists provide essays and picture stories to bring the city to life. Contributors include Newsha Tavakolian, named Best Young Photographer of 2006 by National Geographic, Abbas Kowsari, Javad Montazeri and Omid Salehi, who have continued to document the social transformation of their country in the face of mass closures of newspapers and magazines by the government.Things are never what they seem in the art of Sadegh Tirafkan, the new feminist journalism of Asieh Amini, and the romance Shi'a-style by new fiction talent Alireza Mahmoodi-Iranmehr. Above all, "Transit Tehran" celebrates the country's long tradition of artistic and cultural resistance that has influenced young Iranians, noticeably in the work of veteran editor and journalist Masoud Behnoud, photo-journalist Kaveh Golestan, premier satirist and illustrator Ardeshir Mohassess, and photographer Mohsen Rastani.