Shooting Galleries of Iran

CAUTION: These photographs might be disturbing to some viewers.

A Rare Look at Drug Abuse On the Streets of Iran

Eighty percent of the world's narcotics are produced in Afghanistan, the majority of which is transported to Europe through Iran, a narcotic trade route that inordinately exposes Iranians to drugs and makes them especially vulnerable to addiction. Prior to the 1979 revolution it was estimated that there were 50 to 100,000 drug addicts in Iran. Government policy at the time was to distribute rationed opium among addicts over the age of 50, and to offer Methadone syrup to younger and middle-aged addicts through outpatient clinics. But after the revolution the Islamic Republic adopted a no-tolerance attitude toward substance abuse, making drug use a criminal offense and leading to the closure of treatment centers and the transfer of addicts to camps where they were forced to kick their drug habit.

Because replacement treatments were not available, imprisoned drug addicts turned to other methods of substance use, such as needle injection. Shared syringes exposed patients to diseases transferred through blood, such as AIDS and hepatitis. Over the past three decades, war, high unemployment, and soaring rates of depression, stress, and suicide have led to a massive rise in drug addiction across the country. In his photo essay Shooting Galleries of Iran, photographer Ali Rafiei takes an unflinching, rare look at the world of intravenous drug abuse in Iran.

Shooting Galleries of Iran

I had heard photographing addicts is tough, especially working around intravenous drug abusers, which can also be dangerous. Smoking addicts don't get along well with a camera and take a long time to trust a photographer. Sometimes there is no trust at all, and they confront photographers violently, especially at night and in secluded areas where a photographer also faces the possibility of getting mugged and seeing his expensive equipment stolen. If you are not looking for headaches, you should give up this photography assignment altogether.

The ones that shoot up are a story unto themselves. If the smokers target you for mugging and you get entangled with them, you will most likely be stabbed with a knife. But things are different with the ones that shoot up, because with them, you are dealing with dirty syringes. The slightest contact with a used needle which could lead to bleeding exposes you to a high risk of getting contaminated with HIV.

The first days of working with addicts, I was really afraid. Though the fear subsided over time, it never left me until the last moment I worked on this project. I learned a few days after I started work that the addicts are not terribly dangerous, but I was careful all the time, and while I was photographing with one eye focused on my subject, my other eye scanned the surrounding environment. I would turn around every once in a while and look behind me, lest I was going to be ambushed. I had to tread carefully, because I could be stepping on a needle at any moment. Whenever I went there to take pictures, I would wear my thickest shoes, so that if I got distracted by the camera and the subject and stepped on a needle, it wouldn't penetrate and poke my feet. There was no choice, even hearing the word AIDS would send shivers down my spine.

Now that I look at my photographs, I can clearly see footprints of that fear. The fear wouldn't allow me to fully concentrate on my photography. Half of my attention was focused on my surrounding environment and my safety. Now, looking at some of those photographs, I tell myself I wish I had taken it from another angle, I wish I had tried another frame, and what a pity I clicked that shutter one second sooner or later...but it's all pointless now. Photography becomes harder when, under war or other stressful circumstances, adrenaline is coursing through your body. Fearing for your life during work occupies at least half of your mind. If I get another chance, I would like to work on addicts again and take their photos. Their world is a strange one.