‘It was strange – a girl without a hijab at an ancient religious ceremony’: Mohammad Nazari’s best phone picture

The Iranian photographer sees both social documentary and art in his image of two girls at a bus station

Iranian photographer Mohammad Nazari wasin a bus station when he took this shot. I was just leaving areligious ceremony inZanjan, which is nearthe capital of Tehran, when Ihappened upon this scene completelybychance," he says. The glass of thebus station separatedthese twoyoung girls - onewith her hand outstretched and placed on the glass, the other turning to look at her. The presence of a girl without a hijab in acrowd at an ancient religious ceremony created an interesting contrast. The feeling Iget from this photo isvery strange."

Nazari took the photograph on amobile phone not out of choice but out of necessity. My country is facing very high inflation, and cameras are very expensive, so it's practically impossible for independent photographers like metobuy one," he says. Heinstead relies on mobile phones, adding that because this model didn't have a good enough zoom function,he hadto getinclose to his subects. Helater appliedsome minor edits to the contrast andsaturation.