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1 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 30/11/11 - Zahra, saddened, closes the fridge as she finds out there will be no cake for her 9th birthday. Her parents have already spent a lot of money on the food so there was no budget for a proper cake, but only some cheap pastries.

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2 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 13/11/11 - A group of third-graders, at a very highend private school in northern Tehran, play 'Sangsar' (stoning), a similar game to dodgeball, except that kids would line up against the ball and one person would shoot out the ball at other. According to Islamic Shi’a law in Iran, when a girl turns nine years old she is considered to be mature enough to take on life and her religious responsibilities. But the definition of these responsibilities varies throughout the country.

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3 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 16/11/11 - Diba hides behind her curtain as she plays with her pool of toys in her room.

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4 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Haajar, Leila and her classmates cross the frozen river to go to school in bitter cold winter.

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5 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 15/12/12 - With the ruins and Red Crescent tents, Leila (in middle) plays with her friends in the streets. Siah Kalaan was one of the many villages that was hit and devastated by a twin earthquake 5 months earlier.

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6 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 29/11/11 - Zahra searches among the trash in the backyard, hoping to find something to keep herself entertained for the rest of afternoon.

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7 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 30/11/11 - Zahra waits for her dad as he comes home from shopping for her small birthday party. Still no birthday cake for the night.

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8 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 16/11/11 - Diba waits in the hallway as her family get ready to go out for dinner.

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9 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 17/12/12 - Leila and her classmates play while getting wudu and prepare for the school's Jemaa paryer. Once a girl tunrs nine, she's considered to be mature enough, therefore she's required to pray 5 times a day.

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10 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Leila walks through the ruins of her house, showing me where her bedroom used to be. Siah Kalaan was one of the many villages that was hit and devastated by a twin earthquake 5 months earlier.

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11 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 17/12/12 - Haajar (in middle) with her classmates, in third grade, listen to their teacher.

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12 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 13/11/11 - 'The art room' at Diba's private school. Public schools and most private schools in Iran can't afford having seperates classromms for different subjects.

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13 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Haajar, standing at her doorstep, tells her friend that her mom doesn't allow her to go out and play on the street.

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14 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 15/12/12 - Haajar prays at a Imamzadeh (A shrine for Islamic Saints). Once a girl tunrs nine, she's considered to be mature enough, therefore she's required to pray 5 times a day.

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15 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 30/11/11 - In the kitchen of her master's house, Zahra covers her face in pain as her mom prepares and combs her long hair for her birthday.

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16 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 01/12/11 - Diba has kebob for lunch with her family. With the ongoing financial crisis and weekly inflation, eating out or eating fancy foods like kebob is getting unaffordable for most middle class families.

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17 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 29/11/11 - Zahra, 9, sits by the empty pool, trying to entertain her lonely afternoon in the house. Zahra and her parents take up two small rooms at a very big house in northern Tehran, where they work as in-house maid for an old woman.

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18 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 29/11/11 - Zahra's only barbie is left hung and naked from her desk.

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19 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

BAM, IRAN - 17/12/11 Fatemeh rests after school as she struggles with a very bad flu.

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20 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Haajar stands in front of a freight container that she shares with her 4 other family member. Since the earthquake destroyed her house, Haajar and her family lives in between their half-ruined house and this freight container.

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21 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 01/12/11 - Diba tries on new hair elastic bands in a flea market, while shopping with her mom and her older sister.

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22 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 15/12/12 - Haajar kisses quaran after she prays at a Imamzadeh (A shrine for Islamic Saints). Once a girl tunrs nine, she's considered to be mature enough, therefore she's required to pray 5 times a day.

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23 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 17/12/12 - A stick that is used in classroom to punsh the students is left on a table in the classroom. In small villages like Siah Kalaan punishing the students, even pysically, is not out of norm.

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24 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Leila takes a baby lamb out of a stable. Most of their animals did not survive the earthquake while stuck in rubbles.

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25 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

BAM, IRAN 18/12/11 - Fatemeh and her two older brothers cram in front of their old computer, looking at family photographs. After a while Fatemeh let go of her headscarf in front of my camera.

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26 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 29/11/11 - A video from Zahra's first-grade end of school year celebration.

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27 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

TEHRAN, IRAN 30/11/11 - Zahra and her cousin play with her uncle's cellphone in the hallway. As she turns 9 that night, her dad asked her to start wearing headscarf, even in front of her uncles and male cousins.

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28 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

BAM, IRAN 18/12/11 - Fatemeh climbs the wall of the front yard. As Fatemeh's family struggles with poverty after Bam earthquake, she spends most of her time playing with what is available around her or hand-made toys.

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29 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Haajar plays snow fight with her classmates during a break. In small villages like Siah Kalaan, the boys and girls go to the same school and share the same classroms and spaces.

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30 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

THERAN, IRAN 01/12/11 - Diba, 9, lies back on her bed in her room in northern Tehran, bored and tired from playing computer games on her personal laptop.

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31 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

BAM, IRAN 18/12/11 - Fatemeh and her older brother play in their small living room, first night that Fatemeh decided to remove her headscarf in front of my camera.

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32 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 15/12/12 - Haajar, Leila nad her friends play snowfight after school.

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33 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

VARZEGHAN, IRAN 16/12/12 - Leila steps out of a freight container that she shares with her 4 other family member. Since the earthquake destroyed her house, Leila and her family lives in between their half-ruined house and this freight container.

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34 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

BAM, IRAN 17/12/11 - Fatemeh enters the storage room where they keep all the pigeons in their frontyard.

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35 of 35 © 2024 Kiana Hayeri

BAM, IRAN 17/12/11 - Pigeons locked up in the room.

Public Story
The day I become a woman
Copyright Kiana Hayeri 2024
Date of Work Jan 2011 - Ongoing
Updated May 2020
Location iran
Topics Children, Documentary, Islam, Photography, School/College, Teens

According to Islamic Shi’a laws in Iran, when a girl turns nine, she is considered to be mature enough to take on life and her religious responsibilities but the definition of these responsibilities varies throughout the country.

The day I become a woman’ captures the lives of nine"year"old Iranian girls at a turning point of their lives of ‘becoming a woman.’ In a luxurious neighborhood in northern Tehran, the nine"year"old one continues to live as many of us in North America have probably experienced our childhood. One may play with a never"ending pool of toys and receiving a high"quality education at a private school in Tehran while the Bami girl of my story, who survived the devastating Bam earthquake in 2002 as an infant and Haajar and Leila, the Azeri girls of my story, who survived a recent twin earthquake, struggle with their traumatized jobless parents on welfare. By focusing on this generation and capturing key moments in the lives of these girls as they transition into ‘adulthood,’ I aim to explore a society that is layered with complex culture, religion, history and current events.

The name of the series refers to award-winning film of Marzieh Makhmalbaf, with the exact same title, that is comprised of three interconnected vignettes depicting three women at three stages of life in Iran. 


This was a work in progress... but it never arrived to the finish line (2012)

Kiana Hayeri

Iranian-Canadian photographer, focusing on migration, identity and sexuality in societies dealing with oppression or conflict.
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