The images that Abbas Kiraostami presents of empty rainy roads sweeping past fields and trees are devoid of characters. They seem like empty sets which the great director is about to populate with actors. However, for Kiarostami, roads and trees are artists, interlocutors and companions. “From my very first photos, taken when I first picked up a camera, I realised that trees had more significance for me than human beings,” he says. “I have always quoted Ibn Arabi, who says that “the tree is my sister.”

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 30, 2009

While Fataneh Dadkhah (published yesterday) narrows her focus to a painted face Shadi Ghadirian empties her scenes of characters altogether and allows their possessions to take over. For her Nil Nil series she photographs military objects – helmet, canteen, bayonet, ammunition belt, and so on – in a domestic setting. Removed from their context, these accoutrements of war appear at once menacing and delicate, their agression tempered by the feminine element.

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 29, 2009

Fataneh Dadkhah photographed her Balouchi Brides series during her travels in Balouchestan, Iran, in 2007. The vivid colours and sumptuous materials echo theatre costumes of Dadkhah’s early career, an overtone which she enhances with the stripped back and muted backgrounds. This aesthetic approach throws the bridal party into sharp focus, bringing to mind the presentation of the principal players within stage productions.

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 28, 2009

Recent history, particularly the history of conflict, informs Reza Aramesh’s series Between The Eye And Object Falls The Shadow. His series draws its inspiration from Francisco Goya’s “The Disasters of War,” (1810-1820). Aramesh arranges actors in a variety of tableaux or, in his terms, numbered ‘actions’ in which 17th century Spanish artist prints are contrasted with found photographic imagery from Reuters depicting disputes mainly in the Middle East from the 1960s to the present day. Each of Aramesh’s scenes is deliberately and incongruously set in of the stately and historical homes in the idyllic English countryside.

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 27, 2009

In his Shade of Earth series, Kowsari captures the annual pilgrimage that many Iranians make to the Iran–Iraq war frontline. During the war (1980–1988), Iran lost over half a million soldiers and so each year hundreds of thousands of Iranians travel to the fronts to remember the family members they lost. This trip is called ‘Rahian-e Noor’, or Caravan of Light, and is made in during ‘Noruz’, the Iranian New Year holiday in the last week of March. The former battle grounds become a theatre of grief for the mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers, wives, friends and families who take the long journey to remember. Kowsari’s moving photographs of the pilgrims contemplating their loss, and the ceremonial processions of flag bearers amongst the barren wasteland of the former warzone, speak volumes about the impact of war on those left behind.

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 26, 2009

At first seemingly simple, Ramin Haerizadeh’s photographs are nonetheless visually as well as intellectually complex. The meticulously crafted components within each work behave in unexpected ways and culminate in an immaculate finish. Reminiscent of the traditional motifs of Persian tapestries, architecture, fabrics, and carvings, Ramin Haerizadeh’s work reconfigures the decadence of an ancient civilisation into lusciously futuristic tableaux. Printed as large photographs, his computer manipulated imagery conveys all the sumptuous associations of history within their super-slick modern surfaces. Using these appropriated forms as departure point for invention: Haerizadeh transforms tradition, myth, and legend into the realm of virtual reality, subverting convention through high-impact graphic design and digital modelling.

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 25, 2009

For the past 15 years, Sadegh Tirafkan has recorded the annual festival of ‘Ashura’, held to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, who was slain in the desert of Karbala, Iraq, over 13 centuries ago. Processions of men take to the streets and flagellate themselves to the rhythm of drums, in what is known as the month of mourning.

Selected by Fariba Farshad on December 24, 2009

Cow Camp, Idaho. The closest grocery store is about an hour drive away. You can go for miles and miles in any direction without finding any signs of civilization. At the end of each year, during ’round up’, this place is packed with people who help bring the cattle down to the valley before the frost of winter takes over. It’s August 2009 now and it feels like Cow Camp is the most desolate place in the world. For six months, this is the place that Gene and Josh, two young cowboys, call home.

Selected by Artur Eranosian on December 23, 2009

One consequence of the one sided way Pakistan is covered in the media is a total collapse of tourism. I wanted to tell a different story. About people living their lives as they always used to. And if you look good enough, there’s this absurdity connected to living in this bizar but intriguing country. Sometime it’s habits and traditions that cause a strange athmosphere, sometimes it’s the situation and sometimes a combination of both. I have used photography to show what I ‘ve seen in this wonderful country, what I think and feel about Pakistan. I met a lot of Pakistani people, they treat strangers like real guests. So, be their guest!

Selected by Artur Eranosian on December 22, 2009

The people in these images are cycling on a long and straight daily commuter route. Typically, when we cycle we’re disconnected from the world around us: we dream and ponder whilst mechanically driving along a familiar, somewhat mundane path. Submerged into an ‘absorptive mode’, people’s expressions depict themselves in an honest way – unposed, unconcerned and unaware of either the photographer or the camera.

Selected by Artur Eranosian on December 21, 2009