Iran=No trip regulations

[cyrus]

Well I'm off for Istanbul for a few days and then a week or so in Iran in time for the Persian New Year (Spring Equinox) I'll be taking a handheld 4x5 and I hope to have a chance to visit Isfahan, though most of the country shuts down for 2 weeks, and see if I can come close to some of Bill Zorn's photos.

Oh, guess what? No tripod restrictions at public monuments, and no laws prohibiting US travel as is the case for Cuba.

If you're interested, here are some tours

[Nathan Potter]

Cyrus, you're right. My neighbors (US citizens) travel regularly to Iran to visit their relatives. I was there in the 1950s' as a US intelligence officer and found it a most beautiful place for photography. Even today it's not the kind of hassle you'll sometimes find setting up a tripod in Paris or even the US.

Nate Potter

[cyrus]

Cyrus, you're right. My neighbors (US citizens) travel regularly to Iran to visit their relatives. I was there in the 1950s' as a US intelligence officer and found it a most beautiful place for photography. Even today it's not the kind of hassle you'll sometimes find setting up a tripod in Paris or even the US.

Nate Potter

Paris! Forget about it! Neat thing about iran is that I've never seen another LF photographer there. Its virgin territory, LF wise.

[roteague]

I work with someone from Iran, how is a very nice person. He still travels there, and his parents, who live in Iran, travel here. Personally, I would love to visit there someday.

[Ron Marshall]

No tripod restrictions at public monuments
here are some tours

Do you know if one must pay fees to photograph at any of the monuments/tourist sites, if they are deemed to be a professional?

I ask because a friend had to pay a couple of hundred a day at Angkor Wat, to use his 4x5, while I did not when I was there with a 35mm and a tripod.

Please post some of your shots when you get back.

[cyrus]

Do you know if one must pay fees to photograph at any of the monuments/tourist sites, if they are deemed to be a professional?

I ask because a friend had to pay a couple of hundred a day at Angkor Wat, to use his 4x5, while I did not when I was there with a 35mm and a tripod.

Please post some of your shots when you get back.

Nope. All you pay is the usual entrance fee if there is one. heres a med format shot from 2 yrs ago. (They're making nukes!)

[cowanw]

Iran may be one of those few countries where a large format camera may save you trouble.
You do not want to be identified as a photojournalist. A canadian photojournalist was recently beaten to death in jail for taking pictures.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2003/0...mi_030716.html

It is interesting given the heat of the political rhetoric, that Americans would go to Iran at all

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_920.html
Are the risks overstated?
Regards
Bill

[Jiri Vasina]

Yes, for most westernes the risks are overstated. I don't know about Americans, it might be worse than for others (I'd suppose). I have two friends that have been in Iran in the past 4 years (separately), one of them with his wife. Both said it's beautiful, welcome and friendly country. They did not have any problems traveling there.

[Ron Marshall]

Thanks for the info Cyrus. Would it be difficult for someone who doesn't speak Farsi to get around? Is is possible/avisable to travel independently, or should one go with prebooked hotels?

I guess taking photos of women in public is not a good idea?

[cyrus]

It is interesting given the heat of the political rhetoric, that Americans would go to Iran at all

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_920.html
Are the risks overstated?
Regards
Bill

IMHO That's actually what makes travelling anywhere interesting: comparing pre-conceptions and realities. If you read any of the many travelogues posted on the web by people (american in particular) who have actually gone to Iran, they all say the 4 same things:

1- Were warned by friends/relatives not to go.

2- Once arrived, were overwhelmed by common hospitality (some to the point of being annoyed) and discovery that Iranians actually LIKE Americans and don't confuse the people of the US with the government.

3- Expressions of frustration at the realization of the total mismatch between previous perceptions and newly-discovered realities

4- Discovery that the biggest threat to them in Iran is the traffic.


Samples:
Biking across Iran
Conde Nast magazine
Peter & Anne Smith of Sheffield, Yorkshire, are gobsmaked
Travel & Leisure
Keith literally carried a cross across Iran
So did another fellow (Jesus freak thing must be a trend)
Try Sunny Iran
Marie Javins overland from Pakistan to Turkey
Rick & Kathy
Pierre Flener:
A whole bunch of travel articles mostly from UK/US papers
More...

And there are the few who are shocked to discover that yes, it snows heavily in Iran and people like to ski there on some pretty good slopes too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYrA1RCFeAE)

As for the US State Department warning, I personally pay it no heed because it is political. A whole mess of tourists were machine gunned outside a temple in the Egyptian tourist resort of Luxor. Nothing like that has ever happened in Iran-- and yet the US STate Department travel warning about Egypt is hardly as hyped.