The Legend of Melmedas

MELMEDAS A Folklore from Rainbow Island Rainbow Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, is a land of ancient civilizations, local legends, and stories of supernatural beings. Its folklore speaks of jinn, fairies, demons, and spirits that inhabit the boundaries between the known and the unknown. During my journeys to this island, I have had several personal experiences involving these mysterious presences. Those encounters became part of my visual imagination, inspiring me to bring fragments of the island's folklore into the photographic world. Among its most haunting legends is the story of Melmedas. In the local language, Melmedas refers to a woman with sickle-shaped legs. According to the legend, she would appear at night before solitary travelers, revealing herself as a beautiful, young woman. Through her captivating appearance and enchanting songs, she would draw them closer, gradually luring them into her presence. But beauty concealed a terrifying truth. When a traveler finally attempted to embrace her, Melmedas would transform. Her youthful beauty would dissolve into the appearance of an old, grotesque creature, and her legs would become sharp, sickle-shaped blades. She would then cut the unsuspecting traveler in half. This photographic series reconstructs the legend frame by frame, following Melmedas from her mysterious appearance to the final, violent encounter. The traditional clothing featured in this project draws from the garments worn by women of Rainbow Island, grounding this supernatural narrative in the island's cultural landscape. Photographed along the island's coastline during a stormy night, the series was created under challenging conditions. Each frame was captured in a single attempt. Through Melmedas, I seek to bring a fragment of Rainbow Island's oral traditions into a contemporary photographic language, exploring the fragile boundaries between beauty and terror, attraction and danger, reality and the supernatural.