‘I want my viewer to ask – what is happening here?’: Meysam Hamrang’s best phone picture

For Meysam Hamrang, this image was years in the making. The Iranian photographer took it in 2019 at a religious ceremony in the village of Masuleh, part of a historic city in the northern province of Gilan, Iran.

“On the sixth day of Muharram – the first month of the Islamic calendar – Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in a ritual called Alam Bandan,” says Hamrang. “It’s held in a 1,200-year-old shrine. People from surrounding villages gather to participate in, or observe, the ritual.”

The unique architecture of Masuleh, where most buildings are only one or two storeys high, and the yard above one house forms the roof of the house below, allows residents, local people and visitors to gather en masse. “It’s always conducted with great passion and solemnity,” he says.

Hamrang says one of his goals with this image was to spark curiosity. “I want to prompt my viewer to ask, ‘What is happening here?’ In today’s world, many traditional ceremonies risk being forgotten. Documenting such moments through photography is my way of contributing to preserving them.”

He adds: “I also love this picture because it wasn’t captured by chance. It came from years of attending the ritual and waiting for the right vantage point, and the right moment.”