1st Migration

Whispers of Zagros (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 due to urbanization, economic and social change, modern education, expanding road networks, technology, climate change and the separation of young adults from their core families after marriage. The younger generation has been drawn away from migration, placing centuries-old traditions on the brink of extinction.

The majority of nomads sold their herds and settled in the towns or cities where they found work. The remaining 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, which is known as Kooch in Farsi, 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 that once included many families is now continued by only a few members of each family. The photographs that follow document the first migration in a long-term photographic project about Iran’s last nomadic communities who still follow this epic seasonal migration on foot. These pictures were captured during the spring of 2023 and are part of a body of work created over five consecutive migrations with the same Bakhtiari families called Mokhtari between 2023 and 2026.