Western-style stores growing in Iran

(CNN) -- When Thomas Cristofoletti walked into the Hyperstar supermarket in Shiraz, Iran, he was stopped at the door. He had his camera over his shoulder, and the international-style grocery store was built inside a large mall with a strict policy against photography.

"They almost wouldn't even let me bring the camera inside," Cristofoletti recalled.

He was able to bring his camera inside, however, and when he saw a woman shopping in a colorful, patterned headscarf he made a surreptitious click of the shutter.

"I was able to take that one without looking," he said of an image he made for his series exploring Western-style consumerism in Iran.

A former advertising director in Italy and Spain, Cristofoletti left the profession behind four years ago and moved to Cambodia to pursue photography. He founded RUOM, a collective of journalists who specialize in social reportage in Southeast Asia.
Thomas Cristofoletti
Thomas Cristofoletti

Last year, Cristofoletti got the opportunity to visit friends working as graphic designers in Iran and he jumped on the chance to see what daily life is like there.

"I've always been interested in closed countries," he said. "I got this great opportunity to be there with locals. You are able to see things in a very different way."

During Cristofoletti's monthlong stay in Iran, he began to notice the differences in the way Iranians live their public and private lives. He realized that daily life in Iran contradicted the way Iran is typically portrayed.

"The perception we have (about Iran) is not real," he said. "My idea was to try to see with my eyes what is the reality of Iran."

Cristofoletti chose to show this new reality by documenting the increasing presence of Western-style consumerism in a country steeped in tradition. His photos juxtapose typical Iranian markets with modern, brightly lit shopping malls.
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"Even if traditional grand bazaars continue to be the favorite places to shop for regular Iranians, they now face competition from huge shopping malls, which were erected in the outskirts of major cities across the country," Cristofoletti said. The malls feature supermarkets, international brands and vibrant video game arcades as a kind of alternative entertainment.

"I was really surprised to see these kind of modern stores and malls," he said. "Shopping has become a near-obsessive ritual for young people."

Cristofoletti notes that for women especially, some aspects of Western culture are particularly alluring. He found that because Iranian women are prohibited from showing any part of their body except for the face, they have taken to buying high-end beauty products and undergoing plastic surgery to make their features look more European or American. It is through these measures, Cristofoletti said, that women are able to "rebel" against government-imposed restrictions.
It's no different from our country. There is this will of the people to be free. They want to express themselves.
Thomas Cristofoletti

Cristofoletti was aware of certain constraints to life in Iran, and he consulted with a journalist there before his trip who advised him that it was safer to go as just a tourist rather than as a journalist.

"He said it could cause a problem for the person (in Iran) that is helping you," Cristofoletti said.

Consumerism was a feasible subject because it was right in front of him.

"It just popped into my mind when I started seeing it," he said. "It was a natural process. I spent a lot of time in the malls and just acted like a normal tourist. (The authorities) don't see you as a problem."

Cristofoletti wants his project to change the way people around the world think about Iran.

"It's no different from our country," he said. "There is this will of the people to be free. They want to express themselves.

"You just need to find the right angle," he added, "and see everything in perspective."

Thomas Cristofoletti is an Italian photojournalist and videographer based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.