The first game of the Iran Pro League football season kicked off recently, with two middle-ranking teams playing out a seemingly unremarkable match at the Vatani Stadium in Qaem Shahr, a small provincial city in Northern Iran. Who cares right? Well, it turns out that something remarkable did happen at this match. It was reportedly the first top-flight men’s match in Iran to be covered by a female photographer.

How did she do it? Parisa Pourtaherian loves sport, especially football, and has dreamed of covering a professional match. However, due to the stadium ban for women, in place since 1981 when it was decided that women should not be watching a game that men play wearing shorts, Parisa has been unable to join her male colleagues at stadiums around the country to photograph the action. But she has now decided to take matters into her own hands. Arriving at Vatani Stadium three hours before the game, she set out to ask owners of buildings nearby if she could set up on a roof to get a good vantage point. Eventually, after the match had already begun, she got permission at a suitable location. Armed with a huge telephoto lens, Parisa managed to capture quality images of the game, doing a professional job whilst neatly circumventing the controversial rules. She was noticed by male photographers in the stadium, and images of her dedication to her trade have gone viral first in Iran, and now worldwide.

The discussion that Parisa’s actions have sparked are the latest in a long-running dispute in this football-mad country. Women have long campaigned for the ban to be lifted, and there was even a successful movie made about attempts by women to get into matches wearing elaborate disguises. The recent World Cup in Russia showed Iranian women, unveiled, colorful and full of joy, bringing a wonderful presence to the matches with their enthusiasm and knowledge of the game, making people back in Iran even more determined to have the ban overturned. As of today however, nothing has changed and the authorities are still enforcing the ban.

Scroll down below to see Parisa in action, as well as some of the shots she managed to capture from her unusual vantage point, and let us know what you think in the comments!

This is Parisa Pourtaherian an Iranian sports photographer

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

She especially likes football photography

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

The problem is that Iranian women are banned from many men’s sports events

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

But she found a way to get around the system

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

By photographing the first match of the new football season from a nearby house’s rooftop

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Pourtaherian said she got idea last season, when she saw photos of people watching the match from nearby rooftops

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

She spent nearly half of the match trying to convince a homeowner to let her onto their roof. In the end, she found one that agreed

Here are the pictures she managed to snap

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Women have long campaigned for the ban to be lifted

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

There was even a successful movie made about attempts by women to get into matches wearing elaborate disguises

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

The recent World Cup in Russia showed Iranian women, unveiled, colorful and full of joy

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Making people back home in Iran even more determined to have the ban overturned

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

As of today however, nothing has changed and the authorities are still enforcing the ban

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Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Although Parisa’s actions have placed more pressure on authorities to review the situation

Image credits: Parisa Pourtaherian

Here’s what people had to say about it

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