Raoof Haghighi? What the what?! who? Never heard of him? Well, neither had I, until I saw this image, which – as all truly great art and photography does – speaks a thousand thousand words, sending me down the proverbial rabbit hole to know more. The ‘speaking a thousand words’ is especially true upon learning the title, but the image is pretty clear, and speaks for itself, imo. Raoof’s wiki page (very short) is linked below the image, as is the title. His recent show in the UK was dedicated to the brave Iranian women who are fighting for their rights, and freedoms. When men – like Haghighi – do the right thing, let’s make note of it, because it is noteworthy, and, in the grand scheme of things, all too rare. Empathy. It’s a skill. One we must teach boys and girls but especially teach our boys, our boys, our boys – for their sakes (their lack of self-compassion is killing young men in this country) and for the sake of all women and girls.
The title of the work? Just Take Them and Leave Me Alone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoof_Haghighi
The work, and the need don’t end because ‘holidays’, in case you were wondering. Will it ever end? Not in my lifetime. Call this your holiday season daily reminder. And be grateful you live in a less regressive and repressive place than Iran, even granting that we in the U.S. still have a damnably long way to go. Sigh.