iran

This Iranian Music Streaming Site is Photoshopping Women Out of Their Own Album Covers

Iranian music streaming website Melovaz is under fire today after it was discovered that, in accordance with the country's strict censorship policies, the site is forced to Photoshop out women out of album cover art. The policy means that women are being scrubbed—often very poorly—out of their own cover art, resulting in some very strange, almost comical album covers.

Landscapes Photos That Capture the Beauty of Iran

Photographer Farzad Orsgani was born in Iran and spent the first 16 years of his life there before emigrating. After noticing politics clouding people's perceptions of his home country, Orsgani decided to return to Iran to capture a new perspective through landscape photography.

Female Iranian Photographer Banned from Stadium Shoots Match from Roof

Parisa Pourtaherian is a 26-year-old photographer in Iran who has a passion for shooting sports. The problem is, women are banned from entering soccer stadiums in her country for men's matches. But Pourtaherian recently became the first female photographer to shoot a national league match, and she did it by climbing on top of a nearby roof.

Photographer Travels the Globe to Capture ‘The World in Faces’

Alexander Khimushin is a Queensland, Australia-based photographer who has been on the road for 9 years. During that span, he visited 84 countries. 10 months out of a year he's on the road shooting photos in remote places. He's currently working on a series titled "The World in Faces."

Photographer Takes on Stereotypes by Capturing the Diversity of Iranian Father-Daughter Relationships

During her time in Malaysia, roughly 3,500 miles away from her home in Iran, photographer Nafise Motlaq was troubled by the way people would talk about her country's culture. Partially perpetuated by the media, she saw people making judgements without any first-hand knowledge of the country's actual culture.

It was this frustration with misrepresentation that, once she was home, inspired Motlaq to pick up her camera and begin an intimate series of photographs exploring the father-daughter relationship in Iran.

Beauty and Symmetry Collide in Stunning Photographs of Mosque Architecture

Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji is a 23-year-old physics student at Mazandaran University, and yet, you've probably seen his photography floating around the Internet as of late.

That's because, when he's not studying, Ganji is capturing truly stunning photographs of the colorful, architecturally gorgeous interiors of historical Mosques throughout the Middle East.

Iran Temporarily Shut Down Instagram this Weekend, Then Denied it Ever Happened

#اینستاگرم فیلتر شد - #ایران #فیلترینگ #iran @ListenToUs @HassanRouhani pic.twitter.com/NnIDry4jsf— Soheil Gonzalez (@soheilr7) December 28, 2013

In most countries around the world, it's taken for granted that if you'd like to share a photo of your lunch or cat (even if, just maybe, you shouldn't) Instagram is ready and able to help you accomplish your goal. Of course, that's not true everywhere, as the people of Iran found out yesterday.

New South Wales Government Criticized for Censoring Photojournalism Exhibition

The Reportage Festival in Sydney, Australia is a well-known Vivid exhibition that displays the powerful work of some of the world's best photojournalists and documentary photographers. But this year, the New South Wales government has gotten involved by telling the curators what they can and cannot display, stirring up many photographers and anti-censorship advocates in the process.

Iranian Stealth Fighter Image Called Out as Photoshop Fake by Bloggers

Iran recently made headlines when they unveiled their new state-of-the-art fighter jet, the Qaher-313. Touted as a cross between an F-35 and an F-22, it immediately fell under scrutiny when aviation experts pointed out that the plane that was unveiled could, at best, be only a miniature working prototype.

In response, the Khouz News website published the photo above, showing the 313 patrolling the skies over majestic Mount Damavand. Clearly this was the real deal, right? Not exactly. As it turns out, the photo is a Photoshop creation combining a wallpaper image courtesy of Picky Wallpapers, and one of the original photos of the jet from the unveiling.

Iran Government’s Strange Photos of the Monkey It Sent to Space

Earlier this week, Iran generated quite a bit of media attention after claiming that it had successfully sent a monkey to space and safely brought it back down to Earth. The tiny monkey was reportedly sent into sub-orbital space 75 miles above ground.

To prove its accomplishment, Iran distributed the above photograph of the monkey strapped into its little spaceship chair.

On Traveling to Iran as an American Street Photographer

Photographer Brandon Stanton has generated quite a bit of attention in the photo world through his project Humans of New York, which features thousands of portraits that form a visual census of the city. His goal is to capture 10,000 portraits of New Yorkers that are associated with points on a map.

Stanton recently visited the country of Iran to shoot similar portraits of its inhabitants. He tells us that by visiting the country as a tourist rather than a press member, he was able to get a "remarkable amount of access" in order to create a beautiful collection of intimate street portraits.

How the Wrong Woman’s Facebook Pic Became the Face of Iranian Protests

During the Iranian election protests back in 2009, a 26-year-old woman named Nedā Āghā-Soltān (above right) was shot and killed while standing around and observing protestors. After footage of her death went viral online -- Time says it's likely the "most widely witnessed death in human history" -- Neda's portrait became the face of the movement, as countless protestors around the world held large prints overlaid with statements like, "Neda did not die in vain." The problem is, one of the main photos used wasn't actually of Neda.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Joins Instagram

Guess who one of the newest members on Instagram is? Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran. His new account has the handle @khamenei_ir, the same as his surprisingly active Twitter account.

The Only Anonymous Photo to Ever Win the Pulitzer Prize

Every photo has a story, and this particular photo has one of the most interesting stories of them all -- a story of anonymous fame, and famous anonymity. To this day the above photo, titled "Firing Squad in Iran," is the only anonymous photo to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. And although the photo was taken in 1979, the photographer behind the lens didn't receive credit until 2006.