
An inner shot from the lens of the award-winning Iranian photographer.
The cover photo of this edition presents a familiar scenario. It was shot in 2019 and it is the portrait of a group of boys that to our opinion recalls the Neapolitan “scugnizzi”.
They proudly pose for a shot to testifies to their little adventure.
The choice of this photo was determined by a specific reason. It reveals the strength of the shared values and common experiences of these guys who come together and participate in healing a piece of … “broken heart”. (read the description here)
The author is an Iranian professional photographer and his name is Salar Charmi.
Let’s start by saying about the man.
Salar is a gentleman from Tehran. A noble soul full of grace in manners and words.
He is kind and respectful toward all people of all levels and social classes. And most of all is a big fan of Napulitanamente, which makes all of us in the editorial team very proud.
He is a supporter of animals, a strong supporter of stray animals that he supports against the dangers of hunger and harassment. Lover of beauty and art he travels a lot and spends most of the weekends driving in his car. He loves watching movies that, he says, “ Are always full of peace!”
Since he has lost his father he takes care of his family. He tells us about his beloved brother of whom he is proud of and who he is preparing to go to university.
Salar started his career as a photographer before starting university. There, as a student he obtained a position in more than a dozen art festivals at the international, national, and provincial levels, and his works have been published in several volumes of picture books. He also granted the title of “Elected Student” and “Top Graduate”. He soon begun a pro. He ranges as a photographer between different genres of photography. He currently does street and documentary photography. Also he pursues photography of Iranian historical monuments.
He is a full member of the Iranian Photographers Association, which is under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Interior. He also teaches a specialized professional course. He shares his knowledge with 85 students, on his class, every year.
In 2020 he opened an advertising studio “GRAY GROUP”, with his beloved Master, MR. Mirfarhood Riazi, where they work on many projects.
Salar has shared with us about an industrial photography projects of exquisite silk carpets. A very specialized and highly professional work.
He also works as a cameraman on filming sports and the Iranian Football Premier League.
Beside all this Salar is a fan of soccer and guess what? He will also talk about Napoli soccer team and about Diego Armando Maradona.
IP – How would you describe Tehran? –
SC – My city Tehran is a city with a population of nearly 9 million people And in terms of geographical area is 750 km, It is said to be the 24th most populous city in the world. Tehran was declared the capital of Iran in 1788. In Tehran, you can visit a variety of beautiful buildings with high antiquity and new and modern buildings. Iran and its capital Tehran are full of tourist spaces that attract many tourists every year. To be able to see all these historical spaces, you need to stay several days. Tehran is a crowded city and many people come from the surrounding cities every morning during the week to attend work. So Tehran weekends are a bit more secluded. The city offers attractive cinemas and theaters, and if you travel around you must visit these theaters along with other tourist spaces. It has the sixth tallest telecommunication tower in the world called “Milad” Tower. Usually there is air pollution on some days, due to the use of cars and motorcycles a lot,and, of course, I am always on the subway. Needless to say, Iran is full of attractive cities whose history dates back to 2500 years ago, including Shiraz and Isfahan. –

IP – What’s your typical day as a photographer? –
SC – Usually on days when I have nothing to hurry, I try to spend my day out, walking in some parts of Tehran taking shots of what happens. I believe that a street photographer or documentary filmmaker should know the people of the community and their lifestyles properly. And before the final event takes place, he should be there with a correct guess and take a his own photo. That’s why I like walking in relatively crowded, historic and exciting spaces, so that I can get more in touch with people. –
IP – Does Iranian community support artists? –
SC – This question makes me think a little. The photographer usually has a relatively difficult situation, because you can not take pictures in most spaces, or you may not be allowed to take pictures. On the other side, when you take pictures, you encounter people who like to take pictures of them, and this brings the relationship between the photographer and the people closer. One of the difficulties is that when I shoot in public spaces like the subway and have to wait at least 2 or 3 months to get a license for a day of photography, which is really annoying for me personally. Another phenomenon that exists in Iran is the existence of an institution called the “Artists’ Fund” And this fund insures artists, including photographers, and is considered a retired artist or photographer after 30 years of paying insurance premiums. –
IP – Would you leave your hometown? –
SC – Of course why not. I am a photographer and my biological experience in different cities and climates can have a direct impact on my images, and I am even interested in continuing my education in another city or country to increase my academic knowledge. At the moment there is no situation but I’ll do my best to make it happen. (smiles. ed.) –
IP – What does photography represent to you? –
SC – Photography helped me find my true personality. It taught me the culture of the right relationships with people. In fact thanks to photography I was able to connect with people from any region. I was able to get to know their lifestyle and I enjoy that. I was able to increase my experience beyond my age, and, as a result, it made life easier for me along the way. I always tell my students that the camera is a part of my body and if there is not a camera, I will lose half of my being. –

IP – As a photographer, do you consider yourself an artist? –
IP – Definitely so, photography is imbued with art and originated from the art of painting and is updated every year. There were many photographers all over the world during these years, each of whose works was able to create a change in the world that will go down in history for many years, and we are inspired by the works of these artists to progress and evolve in art. Photography as an art can dominate the world and the photographer plays an effective and key role.
Photography has many capabilities within it, there are some branches of art that can not be kept constant, such as Land Art that you have to capture the image with the art of photography, so that later everyone can see it, but it is interesting to know that photo will have an artistic aspect after its photography. –

IP – In order to take a good photograph it is essential to have the tools and to know the technique, even better if you have experience. To take an extraordinary photo, what do you need to add to all this? –
SC – I think this question has several answers. Because with the formation of the digital age and the increase in the quality of cameras in mobile phones, we are witnessing the appearance of many photographers who even take photos with mobile phones, and even mobile phone cameras have been able to place themselves among professional cameras.
But in my opinion, there must be a new idea to record a wonderful work, because we have witnessed the appearance of many genres from the beginning of photography over the years, and their modern images have performed wonderfully. That’s why I believe that if you have a new idea and you can achieve a great work in photography by combining other arts, I am doing this now and I will definitely unveil. –
IP – Is there any project you are currently working on? –
SC – Of course, I am currently working on a large industrial photography project with my colleague and partner, Mr. Riazi and several assistants that we have been working on for nearly two years.
In this project, we have to photograph Iranian carpets that are made of silk and usually have high prices, and it is important for us that the original color of the carpets does not differ from the color of their images, and exactly what It can be seen with the naked eye. But this is not the whole story, because we have to use a tall crane with a height of about 12 meters when photographing due to the large dimensions of these carpets, so that we can capture the image of the desired carpet. Usually these carpets are from 3 meters to 36 meters in size, which sometimes due to the wide dimensions of the carpet, we use different techniques when photographing, such as panorama. In this project, we use different lighting and after doing the project in the studio, we transfer the images to computer systems, and my colleague, Mr. Riazi, edits the images and graphic works, and converts the images to monitors with their color profiles. We are preparing to send their pictures to the representative of this carpet store in the countries bordering the Persian Gulf of Iran, including the UAE, Dubai, etc., after finalizing them. Usually having a partner and co-worker when doing a professional job can be a very positive result. Mr. Riazi is a great co-worker and he is several years older than me and I am happy to have his experience and art that I can use them in doing projects. –

IP – About Soccer. What do you like about Italian soccer? Is there an Italian soccer team you follow? –
SC – Yes, we in Iran are very interested in Italian football and in the World Cup we follow the football of the Italian national team. I and some of my friends are big fans of Napoli, the team in which Diego Armando Maradona shone, and I know that Napoli is a first-class team. Napoli has been one of the main contenders for the championship for several seasons and unfortunately loses the championship due to bad luck at the end of the season. Even last season, in his last game in the 80th minute with the team he was playing, he scored a goal and lost the fourth place, which reached the fifth place and lost the quota of the Champions League, but I hope this year he started working with Luciano Spalletti and has been able to achieve good results and now with Inter Milan, they have formed the table of points, which I hope we will move forward and become champions. We are fans of Italian coaches and players in Iran and even in Iran we use their knowledge. The biggest team in the Iranian league is Esteghlal , which is almost a century old and is called the most proud team in Iran and Asia. In 2020, we had an Italian head coach named Andrea Stramaccioni in the Esteghlal team, who was the head coach of the Inter Milan team, and they achieved extraordinary results, and our hearts will never be forgotten. And now in Esteghlal team we have a coach with Italian knowledge named Gabriele Pin who has been working in the technical staff of the Italian national team for many years, we Iranians always follow Italian football and respect your football art and we really enjoy your style of games and game-making. Hoping for the success of my beloved team Napoli. –
IP – Do you know Diego Armando Maradona? If so can you share your thoughts about him? –
SC – Is it possible that no one in the world knows this myth and star? Diego Armando Maradona was a star who passed away soon, my father always loved him and talked to us about its football, Maradona was known as “the hand of God” … If you travel to Iran, everyone knows Maradona and wears shirts with Maradona’s face. Even after his death, all Iranian artists posted a picture of Maradona on his Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, and even Iranian TV news of his death. “We were all shocked, we did not believe it at all because we all loved Maradona. I know that Maradona loved Italy very much and was in the Napoli team for several years and was able to make it a champion, and Maradona’s clothes and shirt number have remained in this club forever, and I heard Maradona’s picture have drawn on the city walls in Napoli. Certainly by doing these things the soul of the beloved star, Diego Armando Maradona is very happy. –