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In Iran the Wait is Over

Posted on by Mahsa Shamsaei
Reading time 2 minutes

21 year old Sepehr Mesri lives in Tabriz and is a mean sketcher. The pencil and Sepehr are besties. He draws the faces of his friends, the people he admires and the folk he finds inspiring. By adding bursts of color, Sepehr energizes his subjects making complete but very current works of portraiture. His subjects are from all over Iran and are mostly young – very young, and thanks to Facebook I have Internet-stalked them all. Privacy is so yesterday!

Sepehr’s friends are photographers, actors, designers, musicians, band members, all-round coolness aficionados – living and working in different cities in Iran.

Portraiture has always been a mirror reflecting the faces that define a specific moment in time. Kings, queens, noblemen, peasants, conquerors. In the same way, Sepehr shows us the 2015 face of Iran.

Sepehr’s portraits have something important in common, they all have a determined “my way or the highway” look on their faces. These portraits tell us that this new generation (and remember, more than 60% of Iran’s population is under the age of 30) are not interested in waiting. They are here, they are true, and they are defining the future.

I am now 33 years old and for me the Iran of the past decade has been defined by “waiting” – waiting for a better president – waiting for a change in regulations – waiting for the lifting of sanctions. Looking at Sepehr’s works makes me feel that by living a new truth, their own truth, the new generation has unwittingly made the waiting game go away.

Yet this new generation is not the result of a rejection of the past or Iranian identity. Its protagonists seem simply to have a healthy attitude towards being Iranian. They play traditional instruments (Sepehr plays many Persian string instruments including Setar), they eat traditional food (regional produce are so “in” right now) and they understand the value of heritage. For whatever reason, they represent a generation that doesn’t carry the hangups of the past and are free simply to embrace the future.

Sepehr Mesri, his friends and his generation are surely the ones to watch. 

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100 thoughts on “In Iran the Wait is Over”

  6. Your words were true when you said all his sketches have common of, ” my way or highway” look . You are a good observer and he sure is a superb sketcher.

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  11. As the sketch potrays it’s life in it! Amazing work, keep it up 😊
    In the mean time if you are a foodie and crave for good food, then check out my blog which gives you options to explore various recipes by me. Your thoughts on this shall be much appreciated 😊

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  29. This young man’s extraordinary talent is a synthesis of Persian and Iranian cultures. The brand-name Persian culture has been subordinated to the negative connotations of Iranian. Both should be able to say to each other and bring to life Omar Khayyam’s:
    “A book of verses underneath the bough
    A flask of wine, a loaf of bread and thou
    Beside me singing in the wilderness
    And wilderness is paradise now.”

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  30. I don’t think we see enough sketching these days. It is a fundamental, basic skill that has been overlooked in recent years, yet here we find a young lad with such obvious talents and a keen eye putting his gift to great use. I applaud you. Keep it up.

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  40. Dope sketches, love how loose they are. Definitely looking forward to more and have been looking into Iranian artists for the past 3 years now. You guys definitely have crazy talent! I’ve been following Icy & Sot, Black Hand, and GhalamDAR and their work is just INSANE!

    Definitely hoping for the best with how things turn out over there. With the past couple years and the new generation branching out and no longer patiently waiting for change, it’ll be a real treat to see what you guys/gals put out from over there.

    I’m definitely watching…

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  43. We came back from Iran a week ago, spent 40 days there, and on of the things that amazed and impressed us was the love and respect for their historical and cultural heritage. Not only the wait is over, I think, but the change is already there.

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