Mothers of Patience

Contemporary Issues, Honorable Mention prize stories

July 25, 2013

Anbar Jaberi (72), the mother of Nematollah Jaberi, has waited 23 years for her son. She still keeps doors open for him.

The Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century. More than 10,000 Iranians were reported missing in action in Iraq. Casualty figures are highly uncertain, though the numbers of dead on both sides ran into the hundreds of thousands. In Iran, people who were killed in the conflict were declared martyrs for their country, and therefore for Islam. Over 10,000 Iranian soldiers were reported missing in action, without a corpse being identified. Bodies are still being discovered and repatriated. Many mothers of missing soldiers live in hope of seeing their sons again, or finally having a body that they may bury.

Location: Ilam, Iran

Photo Credit: Fatemeh Behboudi

Fatemeh Behboudi was born in Tehran, Iran.

She studied photography and, after graduating in 2007, has worked for several Iranian news services including the Iranian Quran News Agency (IQNA), student news agency Pana, Bornanews and Mehr (MNA).

Exhibitions she has participated in include the Ashura Picture Exhibition 2012 and the Photo Festival Revolution and War 2012 Tehran. In the 2010 Doorbin.net symposium she won second prize in the documentary competition. She was a participant in the 2013 Joop Swart Masterclass. In 2015, she placed first in the Feature Picture Story - Freelance/Agency category of Pictures of the Year International and was one of five exhibited during Obscura's Asian Women Photographers’ Showcase.