I live in northern Iran, in one of the rare places with forests and a suitable climate in Iran, When I was a child I witnessed migrants arriving in my hometown, displaced from thousands of kilometers away by environmental crises. Their image stayed with me, leading me on a 10-year journey, beginning with a visit to the dried-up lake that was once their home, and evolving into a larger exploration of the human-environment connection.
For over a decade, my project, "How Does It End?" has been documenting the profound impacts of climate change on Iran. With a focus on the intricate and destructive relationship between humans and nature, this project captures the environmental degradation occurring over the last 30 years directly endangered the lives of millions of Iranians and led to the displacement of thousands due to climate conditions.
Over the years, I have traveled across Iran, documenting environmental conflicts such as bird poaching, deforestation by fire, overfishing, and the aftermath of climate disasters like floods, sand storms, the climate migrants. I witnessed People who were forced to leave their villages due to the construction of a dam by the government and Women who have farmed for generations, now facing the dual challenges of climate change and the collapse of agriculture. I Documented Efforts by local communities to protect endangered species, such as the Persian Cheetah, And The ongoing deforestation and the growing grassroots efforts to revive forests in various regions of Iran. These stories and some more form a mosaic of the larger issue—the economic, psychological, and social toll of climate change on communities, and their struggle to adapt and survive.
The goal of "How Does It End?" is to create a comprehensive visual narrative that explores both the human impact on the environment and how that, in turn, affects human life. By documenting the daily realities of climate refugees, endangered wildlife, and grassroots efforts to restore nature, I hope to present a multifaceted view of the crisis. The project's value lies in its ability to humanize these issues, providing a lens through which viewers can understand