TEHRANGELES
LA in Persian Nastaliq
Maps mark exploration, discovery, conquest. I was moved the first time I saw maps in Arabic script while I was in Turkey—from Ottoman times, before Turkish changed to romanized script.
Example of an Ottoman-era map of the world
I saw a Middle Eastern culture define borders, name places, and have an understanding of the world. This led to me imagine my hometown of Los Angeles، in Persian.
I renamed neighborhoods like Silver Lake into their equivalent in Persian (درياچه سيمين or daryache simin) or took creative liberties with others like the Miracle Mile (فرسنگ معجزه or farsang-e mo'ajezeh). I left proper names as they are for neighborhoods like Hollywood (هاليوود) and Brentwood (برنتوود).
