Photographer Eugenio Grosso spent eight years traveling across the Middle and Near East, Central Asia, and China, tracing an area roughly aligned with the borders of the Persian Empire. In his project, People of the Fire, Grosso documented rituals, daily life, and architectural remains, such as temples and shrines, focusing on the relationship between human beings and fire.

The cult of fire originated from the observation of nature around 3,500 years ago. According to the most widespread theories, it originated in what is now modern-day Azerbaijan, formerly part of the Persian Empire, an area rich in natural resources, such as oil and gas. Grosso explores the human search for the transcendent and divine, from the past to the present. Over time, ancestral rituals have adapted and taken on new forms, while others have survived to this day. Churches and mosques have been built on the ruins of fire temples, and fire rituals have been absorbed into modern religions. Grosso's photographs provide an unprecedented exploration of our ancestral fascination with fire and prove mankind's eternal search for light over darkness.