Mirror

Youth without youth

I met Mahmoud outside the old bazaar in Shiraz. It was nearing evening and the bazaar was winding down. As a bazaari Mahmoud was pretty much done for the day. After a day of heckling, bartering, bargaining and hauling goods about the bazaar he was unwinding at the chai khaneh near the bazaar gates. As I walked past he caught my attention and we started making conversation which was really a mishmash of dictionary pointing, gesturing and smiles. After chatting for a while, I asked him if I could take his picture and he seemed to gesture "sure why not". I snapped a couple of shots but I like this the best. In this frame, I felt I had captured the restless spirit of a youth; a mixture of curiosity and an eagerness to make a mark in the world. The bravado so often associated with youth is evident in the way he holds and attempts to smoke his pipe, as if it was a symbol of coming of age. I guess youth was our common stock, as Henri Cartier-Bresson once said about photography, "While my right eye is looking outward, my left eye is peering back into my heart"