photography

If you have a long-lens camera, more then one mobile phone or a peculiar home life then you could be branded a terrorist in London. The Metropolitan Police have just stepped up their campaign against terrorist activity by increasing “stop and search” powers and reminding the public to keep their eyes peeled for “odd” people. Our Observer in London is apparently one of them. Read more…

One of the campaign posters

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After years spent in Los Angeles, Azad returns to live in Tehran. He wanders his vast and rambling town capturing these striking images on his simple mobile phone. His message: ‘Don't believe what they tell you; life goes on in Tehran'. Read more...

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Photo: http://xitek.com/

This ‘eco’ photo - a villainous train frightening away some pretty antelopes – was rewarded in 2006 by the Chinese state-run TV channel CCTV. But over a year later, a web-user has trumped the image: the scene was created on Photoshop. Read more…

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Iran's International Fajr Film Festival was hosted in Tehran last week for the 26^th time. But pictures from this year's edition of the popular festival offered an unusual view of the showbiz affair. The FARS news agency blurred out the faces of female guests, making them almost unrecognisable. Our Observer for Iran, feminist Farnaz Seifi, explains why. Read more...

UPDATE (17.30, 15 Feb. 08): Thanks to comments on this post, we have found photos posted by the Fars agency where actresses' faces are not blurred. The photos are part of a different set found at a seperate link. This would suggest that the agency has no consistent policy on whether or not their photographers can show the faces of female actresses.

Photos from the FARS news agency posted on Arash Kamangir's blog.

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