Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Where water is more precious than gold: Iran's southern valleys

Made up of long subterranean tubes with holes drilled on top at regular intervals, the ancient system of qanat allowed life to flourish on the Iranian plateau. On a road trip through the country, photographer Bijan Roghanchi visited a small village near Bam where one was still in use
Bijan Roghanchi for Tehran Bureau

  • A driver, a local of <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@29.1274349,58.2713127,15z">Pakam</a>, spends his days waiting for passengers in downtown Bam. Rate: 6,0000 toman per hour (£1.3)

  • When I arrived in Pakam, one of the access well shafts had collapsed, halting the flow of water and starving the vital date palm fields in the brutal heat of summer. Here dark wet silt are placed in small piles at the top of the well opening. A tractor is lifted on bricks to raise and lower the debris from the congested canal below
    When I arrived in Pakam, one of the access well shafts had collapsed, halting the flow of water and starving the vital date palm fields in the brutal heat of summer. Here dark wet silt are placed in small piles at the top of the well opening. A tractor is lifted on bricks to raise and lower the debris from the congested canal below
  • Anthropologists and archeologists believe qanats were <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/07/food-politics-and-the-iranian-way-of-water-2.html">invented</a> in Iran just over four millennia, or two hundred generations, ago
    Anthropologists and archeologists believe qanats were invented in Iran just over four millennia, or two hundred generations, ago
  • Boys eager to show off play in the open canals feeding back into the dry fields
    Boys eager to show off play in the open canals feeding back into the dry fields
  • A worker clears weeds from the edge of another open canal
    A worker clears weeds from the edge of another open canal
  • ‘He’s coming down!’
    ‘He’s coming down!’
  • It’s difficult to see anything for a few moments in the dark light of the qanat
    It’s difficult to see anything for a few moments in the dark light of the qanat
  • Men were working eight-hour shifts clearing debris, but they had to be very slow and deliberate: if the channel opened all at once the water pressure would be too great, flooding the canal and killing the workers instantly
    Men were working eight-hour shifts clearing debris, but they had to be very slow and deliberate: if the channel opened all at once the water pressure would be too great, flooding the canal and killing the workers instantly
  • A fly is caught in the strobe of a camera
    A fly is caught in the strobe of a camera
  • The bag that is used to haul debris to the top is an old tire turned inside out and sewn shut on the sides
    The bag that is used to haul debris to the top is an old tire turned inside out and sewn shut on the sides
  • Another group of workers farther down the canal struggle at a drop off where water runs chest deep. The pressure increase deeper into the canal and the silt under our feet is thicker. The ceiling lowers to a crawl
    Another group of workers farther down the canal struggle at a drop off where water runs chest deep. The pressure increase deeper into the canal and the silt under our feet is thicker. The ceiling lowers to a crawl
  • The only tools these men use that their ancient forbears did not were headlamps and a tractor, which helped raise and lower bags of silt
    The only tools these men use that their ancient forbears did not were headlamps and a tractor, which helped raise and lower bags of silt
  • A headlamp glows along the black water. Without the strobe from the camera flash everything is dark  
    A headlamp glows along the black water. Without the strobe from the camera flash everything is dark
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