Hamid, an aid volunteer. Photograph: Picture People
Back in November 2004, we reported on a photographic project that documented the rebuilding of the Iranian city of Bam after an earthquake killed 30,000 people on December 26 2003. Picture People, a non-profit creative organisation led by the London-based photographer Nevil Mountford, travelled to Bam where it handed out 60 disposable cameras for people to document everyday life in the city a year after the earthquake, writes Lars Eriksen.
At the end of 2005, Picture People went back to Bam to follow up on the original project. Its aim was to continue to illustrate the feeling of change and renewal that was taking place in a city where people were fighting a battle for survival yet trying to make their lives as prosperous as they were before disaster hit.
Cameras were given to the original participants who could be tracked down and new people were invited to participate. They were asked to photograph the changes in the city as they saw them, as well as the private moments they found important. You can see a selection of images from the new project here.
Going back to Bam, Mountford was encouraged by people's desire for change and their ambition to improve their lives. But he also detected a pervasive loneliness and a frustration at the monumental task of getting Bam back on its feet.
"I found the women of Bam in full spirits," Mountford says. "Getting on with life, making what they have for houses look good. Some of the men are just too disheartened by the slow pace of rebuilding. But on an individual level, talking with people you find they have a desire to succeed in the rebuilding of their lives.
"I think that when the houses really start to rise, then people will be happy again. But there is unemployment and there is a crisis looming as what to do with the future."
The earthquake in Bam drew generous aid pledges from foreign countries. However, more than a year after the quake, Iranian government officials working to rebuild the city reported that only $17.5m (£10bn) of the $1.1bn promised had been sent. Today many foreign aid workers have left the city and gone are the jobs that the people of Bam depended on.
"The people of Bam want to live life again, in proper housing, with a proper bazaar and proper facilities. And the people of Bam realise they must do these things like rebuild and repair, because no one else will do it for them," Mountford says.
"When you look at the photos from 2005 you see the beginnings of Bam coming back to life. You see colour in people's faces. You see the pride of new buildings, of a new couple coming together. You see the first baby born into Bam after the earthquake, and the first married couple after the disaster, with their own child. This was Bam in 2005 and it is a better, a happier place. Change takes place continuously, and this is what the people of Bam want to show."
Picture People is planning a new project in March with the Turkish NGO Support to Life in which they will be setting up creative workshops in the Bam and Baravet areas.
· See the full project on the Picture People website
