Recording the Truth in Iran

Photographs by Kaveh Golestan

Reviewed by Ruchi Shukla.

While on assignment for the BBC in the Northern Iraqi town of Kifri in 2003, Iranian photographer Kaveh Golestan died after stepping on a land mine.

Since before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he was the only Iranian photojournalist who had a continuing presence in the country until his death in 2003.

Variety of images

In his book “Recording the Truth in Iran,” some of his most famous images from different collections have been selected so as to give a historical explanation for the present situation in Iran.

The collections vary in their timeframe as well as their subjects. Although he was primarily a war photographer, Golestan also covered such subjects as the prostitutes in Tehran, children in a mental asylum, the laborers of Tehran — and the Qaderi Dervishes of Kurdistan.

Besides his war-time images, these photographs give us a glimpse into the life of Iran.

History of Iran

Kaveh Golestan has covered all the major political upheavals in his country. His photographs tell the stories of the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, the first Gulf War, the U.S.-led war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and the current war in Iraq.

In 1988, Kaveh Golestan was one of the only photographers who captured the nerve gas attacks outside of the village of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Recording the truth

While most Western media did not cover the attacks because they were compliant towards Saddam Hussein — who at that time was still a U.S. ally — Golestan was furious when his images did not make it into any major media besides Time Magazine.

Even while working in London, Golestan made several trips every year to Tehran to photograph and chronicle the happenings in the country.

He was there in 1979 when the Ayatollah Khomeini came back to power — and captured his funeral in 1989. His pictures told the story of the people behind the war lines.

Awards and accolades

In 1979, he was awarded the Robert Capa Award for his pictures taken during the Iranian Revolution. He could not pick up this award until 13 years later when the Iranian authorities did not think his work was a threat to the regime.

One of his most famous images is that of two men carrying trash in an American flag outside the embassy. TimeLife Books — as part of their award-winning collection — published this picture, which is also featured in this book.

A different world

Kaveh Golestan’s images are enlightening — and at the same time uneasy to look at.

They tell the story of a country that has been ravaged by war and upheaval for almost 20 years. Maybe his images will help us understand what is going on in the country right now.

About Kaveh Golestan

Kaveh Golestan started his work as a photojournalist in Belfast in 1972. He also worked in the offices of Associated Press and Time Magazine in Tehran.

After working in the Time-Life office in London, he returned to Tehran to combine teaching at Tehran University with photojournalism of Iran's revolution — the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war which consumed a million lives — and the Iraqi uprisings in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War.

For the last dozen years or more of his life he worked as a freelancer, largely for the BBC. Kaveh’s photo coverage has earned him several international prizes, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1979, which he was unable to collect for 13 years due to the political situation in Iran. He has also won the Golden Plaque from the Islamic Republic of Iran for work during the Iran-Iraq War.

About Malu Halasa

Malu Halasa is an editor and journalist. She is co-editor of “Creating Spaces of Freedom: Culture in Defiance” (2002), “Transit Beirut: New Writing and Images” (2004), “Transit Tehran: Young Iran and Its Inspirations” (2008) — and “The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design” (2008). Former managing editor of the Prince Claus Fund Library, she was also a founding editor of Tank Magazine. She lives in London and writes for the British Press.

About Hengameh Golestan