Negar Yaghmaian

“After endless days and nights on seas, we knew we are close to land
when the smell of earth and tree filled the air.”
 An old sailors’ quote

Ancient maritime trade is over in Persian Gulf. Old sailors still remember their long voyages from Iran to West Indian Coast when tailwind drove their dhows and stars navigated them. Nowadays stories of those prosperous ages are passed down from one to another. People talk about the risky journeys, fellow travelers and free ports and bazaars, but not that much about family life in those days.

Back then, the trade was not only an economic activity. Also the cultural and social exchanges strongly affected the very lifestyle in this region. Great journeys and long layovers in harbors led to mixed-marriages and Indian-Iranian families forged accordingly. 

Unfortunately, many of these half-breed families came to a bitter end as time passed. With maritime trade fading away, they faced serious challenges and eventually separation, broken families, lost connections and displacement were the consequences.

I started this project by looking for traces from the past; photos, valuable belongings, or still alive traditions. But it was old days’ memories that inspired me the most. Listening to stories of sailors and their families, I pick fragments of their blurry recollection and put down in a new account.

These pictures aren’t a conventional record of a situation. They intended to remain faithful to memory’s essential attribute; obscurity and fantasy. My Photos are glimpses of people, places, and objects which belong to this ground, like flashes of moments telling a familiar tale.

Born in 1984, Negar Yaghmaian is an Iranian photographer living and working in Tehran. She holds a BA in photography from Tehran Art University. In 2015, she took a master course in Documentary and Photojournalism at IED Madrid. Negar participated in Villa Pérochon Art Residency in 2018 (Niort, France). Her photos have been presented in group exhibitions, international festivals, publications and programs including Voies Off-Arles, Arte Creative and Le Monde. Her works usually focuses on social issues and concerns regarding her country.