Hearts & Minds: Mr. Behpour’s Automotive Art

Fleeing the Revolution? No, just shot while having fun.

By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG by Alireza Behpour

THE comment that fellow photographer – username “Delneshin” left on Alireza Behpour’s Flickr account neatly captures any Westerner’s incredulity.

“A Ferrari in Iran?!!!”

Israel isn’t the only desert where flowers bloom…

Ever pick up a copy of Machine Magazine?

If you have, it’s likely that you possess at least a working proficiency in Farsi and an interest in the Iranian viewpoint; in which case you’re likely to have received visits from Homeland Security in the not-so-distant past. You were sure to mention that it’s a shame that Shah Pahlavi fell, right?

Or, more innocently in Washington’s vigilant eyes, you just have a great love of automotive art and like many pass over the prattle.

As of this January (2009) post, Mr. Behpour’s own domain ne marche pas. The Persian auto rag’s site has a well trafficked homepage that only consists of one of Mr. Behpour’s tight shots plus some contact info in English and Farsi.

Only further digging elsewhere yielded a business address with phone and fax numbers…in short… despite the lack of clear online evidence, the publication along with its talented photographer do both exist. 

They’re just hard to reference Stateside. Which brings us smartly back to that informational divide that “Delneshin” touched on without knowing it. 

Save for Los Angeles’ large Persian diaspora, the majority of Americans are clueless with what’s on inside Iran; our potential adversary. I include myself in this lax ignorance. 

So, when Mr. Behpour’s shot of a Silver Shadow in front of an Iranian mansion appears under the subheading “Teheran’s Wealthy” on theworldisround.com  (a coombiyahish site featuring photos of points worldwide) his automotive art swiftly takes on added meaning for the West.

Mr. Behpour’s work becomes something more than the automobiles he photographs when we consider his Iranian passport and the subjects of his lens in a country that according to the American press is subjugated under a withering tyranny.

This photoshopped lens is our window into a dynamic society; highlighting our commonalities and adding proof that the world with all its good and evil operate together in a million shades of gray.

When you pause to think, it’s funny what the correct lens, photoshop, a keen eye for capturing rolling steel, and the Internet can do for transnational understanding.

[Linked: Alireza Behpour's Flickr Page | Machine Magazine]