Taq-e-Bustan is a place in the mountains near Kermanshah in Iran. There is a famous relief in the mountains from the time of Shah Khusro II (Chosrous II) 590-628. The lower part represents a horseman, above it the king is depicted with on the right side the god Ahura Mazda crowning the king and on the other side the goddess Anahita holding the crown and a jug. In the 11th century the image became the basis for the poems of Nizami. His Khusrau and Shirin has become a particularly popular subject of Persian literature. Anahita is seen as Shirin, the Christian woman of Khusrau with whom Farhad (Ahura-Mazda) falls in love. Farhin is a great master builder and sculptor who uses his art to please his beloved, although the stories have been compared to the Arthur legends with their triangular relationship between King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. There are beautiful illuminated manuscripts from the 15th and 16th centuries.
I am Maarten Verhees. The focus of my photographs is on the variation of architecture, animals and people. I try to capture the essence of local places in photographs... Read more…