"Iranians are generous and welcoming but also reserved," says Paolo Pellegrin. The photographer travelled to Iran in February to observe celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Republic. As he made his way around the country, from Tehran to Qum to Mashad, he began shooting simple portraits of the people he encountered on the streets. He wanted to capture a cross-section of Iranian society, from the young affluent women of North Tehran with heavily made-up faces and casually draped hijabs to more traditional residents, like a family from Qum.
Accompanied by an official 'minder' from...