The Private Lives of Iran's Youth

An estimated two-thirds of Iran’s population is younger than 30. With the morality police constantly patrolling the streets of Tehran, Iranian youth try to find a place in society that stays clear of upsetting the political and religious establishment.

Where holding hands in public is punishable, the sight of a woman smoking is cause for arrest, and where being different - whether it is sexual preference, religion, musical taste or style of dress - is prosecuted, many young people are forced to live repressed existences. Behind closed doors, in private, young people’s relief from controlling social pressures is palpable, but never complete.