Young Iranian boys sell plastic toys along the beach in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran on December 2, 2018. The growing unemployment rate and economic distress has caused substantial increase in child labor in Iran.

An Iranian boy lays in a pool fed by an underground mineral spring called Cheshmeh Ali on a hot summer day in Shahr-e-Ray, a working-class neighborhood in the southern part of Tehran, Iran, on August 18, 2018. Poor and crime-ridden, with few public spaces for families and children, the mineral spring is one of the neighborhood’s only spots to cool off in the summer heat.

Hossain embraces his girlfriend Negar on the streets of Tehran, Iran, on October 13, 2017. After the revolution, public affection between unmarried couples was illegal and could lead to harassment or arrest. In the last decade, more couples have begun testing the limits of enforcement—flirting on sidewalks, sneaking kisses in alleyways, and holding each other close on park benches as police patrol nearby.

Iranian men stand along a canal running through farmland in the district of Haji Abad on the outskirts of Borujerd, Iran, on February 7, 2018. Rural areas have been hit hard by worsening drought, mismanagement, and corruption, leaving many farmers struggling to sustain their livelihoods

Kurdish man, Reza Alaeinezhad embraces his horse after teaching horse riding lessons in the city of Ilam, Iran on October 28, 2018.

Nesa and her friend Yasaman look out the window during the coronavirus pandemic in Tehran, Iran, on June 9, 2020. As the currency collapsed and inflation surged, many young Iranians faced growing uncertainty about their future. The pandemic deepened their isolation - cutting them off from friends, opportunities, and an already limited connection to the outside world.

Two sisters stand for a portrait on the beach of Bandar Abbas, a port city in southern Iran. Under Islamic rule, daily life was strictly policed - what women and girls wore in public was scrutinized, and even a child's bathing suit could invite shame or trouble. Over the years, public perception has shifted, and people are quietly pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. Scenes like this, once unthinkable, are becoming more common.

Ilam, the third largest Kurdish city in Iran, suffered heavily from the devastating eight- year war with Iraq in the 1980s. The city was a constant target for the Iraqi bombing campaigns that left the city in ruins and destroyed much of its economic infrastructure. Today, Ilam remains economically underdeveloped with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.