A previous boss (I’ll spare his blushes) once said to me:  ”To do things differently, you have to see things differently”.

Since then, life has been a constant search for new ways of looking: You can find alternative lenses in the most unexpected places.

Indeed, the less expected, the fresher the view.

In recent weeks, it’s been a book of photographs that has challenged and inspired in equal measure: Iranian Photography Now, a portfolio collated by writer and curator Rose Issa.

And it shows that however stuck you appear to be, there’s always a solution.

LIFE THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS

You don’t have to be a cultural commentator or an expert on Middle Eastern affairs to know that Iranian artists work under a very strict set of rules. And that’s especially true of women photographers.

In fact, at first pass the terms’woman’, ‘photographer’ and ‘Iranian’ seem highly unlikely to occur in the same sentence.

Yet their field is burgeoning and they have become a loud voice in an oppressed world, making statements about themselves, their position in society and the restrictions placed on them.

Take the role of the hejab (scarf), and the expectation of covering one’s head and face in public. Boy, that must make for interesting portraiture?

Shadi Ghadirian has taken it to its logical conclusion; portraits without faces at all. She replaces them with domestic appliances which, as well as creating rather eerie images, makes a statement about many women in Iran who subjugate their individuality, and dedicate themselves to their household duties.

It’s a brilliant solution to a seemingly impossible problem. The no-face portrait.

HOLDING UP A MIRROR

The hejab is the expected attire of women in public; in private, they dress differently. However, there are still expectations about behaviour at home, and the mixing of the sexes. Despite this, it’s an open secret that people hold ‘Western’ parties behind closed doors, often with alcohol.

It’s a part of Iranian reality that’s unshowable.

Yet Amirali Ghasemi has done just that in her photography. Which might sound potentially dangerous – would you want to be photographed in such compromising circumstances?

Her solution is to whiten out the faces and arms (bare arms are forbidden) of her subjects. They are now negative spaces, around whom the party happens.

The extraordinary thing about this solution is that rather than de-humanising the image, her pictures become more universal, no longer a particular group of friends, but of an entire people.

Mehraneh Atashi takes a different approach to the segregation of the sexes. She has created a series of images taken at a zoorkhaneh, a traditional Iranian gymnasium. She used flattery and the power of photography to gain access – dressed in her hejab.

What she didn’t tell her subjects was that by using the mirrors in the rooms, she’d include herself in the pictures.

There are many ways of reading this; her relative size to the men, the fact that she in completely enshrouded, the modernity of her camera technology and the timelessness of the exercise regime. I’ll leave the meaning to you. What’s important here is that she worked within very strict rules to solve a problem and challenge the status quo.

PART OF THE SOLUTION

All three of these artists are making political statements (national, religious and gender). They are brave women doing something important that’s beyond my experience.

What is clear to me is the sheer creativity these photographers have brought to their work. They operate in a world where the permissible is rigidly defined, the forbidden made obvious at every juncture.

Yet they have looked at the rules through different eyes, and found new ways of creating WITH rather than IN SPITE of them.

(These images are not ‘black market’ insurrection; all have been publicly exhibited in Iran.)

All of us in business are faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles: legislative, competitive, budgetary. But is any of this as apparently restrictive as the Iranian fundamentalist regime?

Next time you’re faced with a problem, remember these photographers and the fact that they use barriers to their advantage – making them part of a creative solution, not an excuse for inaction.

“To do things differently, you have to see things differently.”

Next step? The business biography.

You interview some ‘co-writers’, select one you like, set to work and within a few months your draft is off to the printers. The promotional tour is arranged, the Richard & Judy session diarised, the launch party on your yacht is in hand. Then the publisher calls:

“What are we going to put on the front cover?”

Well obviously, it’s going to be a picture of you; after all, you are your brand. But you doing what? Sitting behind your desk; shaking on a deal; walking the golf course?

No; it’s going to be a portrait, direct into the camera. You’re going to connect with the reader. You’re a straight talking exec, so you’re going to look them straight in the eye.

All well and good. But the big question is still unanswered: what are you going to do with your hands?

Can’t decide? Then here’s the Business Biog Arms  Guide. Body language speaks volumes: chose carefully.

The Defensive Cross is the most popular option (see above, and many others in the genre), even though it makes you look like you may have something to hide – which, given the frank advice you’re offering, is somewhat counter-productive. Facial expression is important here. Too smiley, and it’ll look like you’re giving yourself a hug because you’re so wonderful. Too serious, and you’ll  look like a nightclub bouncer (but hey – you ‘mean business’). .

The Lean Iococca is only a safe choice at the end of your tenure. Hands linked at the back of your head, body angled back in your seat, shirt under-arms displayed for the world to see – this is a great pose if you’re running a dry cleaning business, but otherwise you’ll seem incredibly smug. Especially if the business that you personally saved is now dependent on multi-billion dollar government bail outs.

The Engaging Clasp. Don’t lean back, lean forward. Rest your forearms on your knees, and interlock your fingers. The readers will be interested in you because you are be interested in them. You are the warmer, softer, more human side of business. It doesn’t all have to be swearing and fighting. This is not a polemic; it’s the beginning of a dialogue.

The Cool Cut really only works if you’re in the fashion business. Look like you’ve spent too much time worrying about your appearance and you’ll look like you’ve spent too much time, well, worrying about your appearance. But that’s OK if you have fashion in your portfolio. Careful about that one-hand-in-the-pocket, though: for every person who sees you as nonchalant and debonair, there’ll be someone else thinking that you’re counting your change.

Shoulder the Blame. Only to be undertaken when all the skeletons are already out of the cupboard and it’s time to clean house. More a confessional than a self-celebration, it only works for those who can handle a little humility and are willing to be stand-up, admit mistakes, learn and move on. A paradox, this one. The least appealing look, but you probably have the most to teach.

The Supporting Hand(y). Not to be attempted if you do not have the time to listen to Thought for the Day, never mind to write one. Probably not suited to those still in the thick of things, or with anything left to prove. Can make you look like you’re listening to a conch shell, but that’s okay because it implies deep seated, at-one-with-the-world, wisdom. For the eminence gris only.

The Trump. Don’t even think about it.