Whispers of Zagros

Chapter 1 (Spring 2023)

Iran’s nomads are among the last guardians of one of humanity’s oldest ways of life; a people whose rhythm of life is still guided by the changing seasons.  For generations, until only a few decades ago, every spring and autumn thousands of families walked hundreds of kilometers across the Zagros Mountains and other mountain ranges together with their flocks. These traditional migrations are journeys of survival.

Today, this ancient way of life is disappearing at an unprecedented pace due to urbanization, economic and social change, modern education, expanding road networks, technology, climate change and the separation of young adults from their families after marriage. The younger generation has been drawn away from migration, placing centuries-old traditions on the brink of extinction.

Most nomadic families now move their animals and belongings by truck or pickup, instead of making most of the long journey on foot or horseback to find grazing land for their herds.

Yet a small number of Bakhtiari families continue to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. Every spring, they walk nearly 250 kilometers through the rugged Zagros Mountains, alongside their horses, mules, and herds. Their journey begins in Khuzestan, near the Persian Gulf, and after weeks of crossing rivers, high mountain passes, and snow-covered peaks, it ends in the summer pastures west of Isfahan.

This tradition is now continued by only a handful of people from each family. The photographs that follow document the first migration in a long-term photographic project about Iran’s last nomadic communities. They were made during the spring migration of 2023 and are part of a body of work created over five consecutive migrations with the same Bakhtiari families between 2023 and 2026.