This series delves into the heartfelt journey of twins — Shima and Shiva, born in 1996 in a village in Guilan province, Iran. Their path began with adversity, losing their father when they were merely one year old. their convulsions started because of genetic problems. Unable to stay with their mother, they were sent to a nursing home at the tender age of 5. However, the twins, with their rebellious spirits, could not accept the rules of the nursing home, prompting them to navigate life in unconventional ways.
In the nursing home, Shima and Shiva faced challenges due to their preference for fun over strict rules. Their habits, such as staying up late and asserting their rights for love and travel, clashed with institutional norms. The limited support for disabled individuals in Iran, focusing on basic needs, leaves them struggling to dream or find joy, highlighting a broader issue for those in similar situations. After 13 years, Shima and Shiva decided to leave the nursing home and live with their friends. With the help of their friends and mother, they contributed to their host's rent expenses.
Shima's absence, following her untimely departure in 2020, cast a heavy cloud over Shiva. Yet, in September 2023, Shiva embraced a new chapter, marrying Majid. The poignant moment of adorning her wedding dress symbolized the realization of Shiva's dreams — a testament to love, resilience, and the unwavering pursuit of happiness.
This series echoes the shared human experience of confronting life's hardships, seeking love, and the unyielding spirit to chase happiness. In the face of Shima's loss, Shiva stands as a poignant symbol of strength, proving that even in the darkest moments, the flame of the fight for happiness and freedom burns brightly.
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- Shiva still likes to be pretty. She does her hair and nails all the time. Usually, her friends help her to pay the beauty salon expenses.
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- It is so difficult to pass the stairs for Shiva, but her friend’s house, who lives with her sometime has a lot of stairs. But difficulties and taking a lot of time do not matter to her while she decides to go out just for an hour to a cafe.
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- These days Shiva doesn’t live in the nursing house, most of the time she lives with her friend, Nasibe, and sometimes with another friend, Ayda. with the help of friends and her mother to pay the rent. She misses her friends in the nursing house but she can not come back there to live. some times she also goes to her mother’s house because she thinks her house is the only place she is calm there.
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- Seeing Shima’s gravestone reassures Shiva, although she can not hold back her tears every time she goes to the cemetery.
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- But anyway suddenly death arrived when no one was expecting it. Shima went to sleep and never woke up again. Right next to her sister. When she was 24. They said she passed away in sleep due to respiratory problems.
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- Shims&shiva wished they could share their bed with their mom again and listen to her voice when she sang lullabies for them. each night they were sleeping with this dream. But after Shima, sometimes Shiva is allowed to go to her mom ́s place and sleep there. Their mother is sad that Shima couldn’t go there for a long time. In this photo Shima is sleeping in her friend’s house, Fati. She was telling me about how much she likes to sleep beside her mother and fell asleep, which never happened before her death.
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- Shima on the way to her grandfather’s house in Masal, a small city in Guilan.
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- Shima and Shiva like to look like a queen
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- Dad puts the washed dishes in their place, Grandpa is above 70 years old and he is sick these days. He is alone just like Shima and Shiva. He has lost his wife a few years ago.
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- The twins told me: after their first convulsion when they were 1, their father leaves the house sad and confused and later died in an accident. When I went to the cemetery with a family friend of them, she told me that if their father was alive, they wouldn’t have such a hard life
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- At the age of fifteen, Leyla gave birth to twins, after one year, she lost his husband in an accident, and also her twin’s convulsions started. Now, she is the mom of 4 children, wife of the other man. A man who doesn’t like the twins. He does not like Leila to spend too much time with them, however, Leyla is forced to move like a shadow in her current life and her previous life.
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- The twins thought it was normal to use one toothbrush. Bad habits were not due to lack of money, they had a lot of friends to help them to buy a lot of toothbrushes, but they thought it was normal and one toothbrush was enough. The location of this photo is grandpa’s bathroom. The house doesn’t exist anymore
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- Nursing house in Rasht ( north of Iran)
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- During those years, they were in that period of their lives when they needed love and affection more than any other time. They had friendly and social behavior but some men hurt them emotionally. The man holding one of them in this picture had proposed to one of them. A proposal that was never serious. Shiva still carries these feelings with herself. Being loved is one of the most important things she needs.
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- Shima and Shiva like to look like a queen
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- This is Shiva’s handwriting. They decided to quit school.
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- A portrait of Shima In the bathroom in Their Mother’s friend’s house in Masal.
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- A few times Shima and many times Shiva had tried to commit suicide with a razor blade, sometimes they liked to tell the others about their dissatisfaction with life.
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- Shima and Shiva in Rasht nursing house, They were as a mirror of each other.
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- On 23rd Birthday, they were confused with signs of convulsion.
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- The only things from their past are some pictures which are kept in their grandfather’s album.
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- The grandfather’s house was the only place they went when they wanted to leave the sadness of their world behind. However, the grandfather was old and ill.
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- Since they were five, Shima and Shiva were kept in the nursing home. These two folders were their dossiers in the nursing home. Since 3 years ago, they don’t live there anymore.
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- Shima and Shiva loved the sea and swimming. They felt happy when they were in the water, they fought for simple rights to be like the other people.
