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While on assignment for the BBC in northern
Iraq in 2003, Iranian photographer Kaveh Golestan
(*1950 in Abadan) died after stepping on a
land mine. A photojournalist since before the
1979 Islamic Revolution, Golestan witnessed
the recent history of his country like no other.
His harsh realism and social criticisms triggered
both awareness and discomfort at home and
abroad; he covered war, revolution, and Iran’s
dispossessed; workers, prostitutes, and the
mentally insane, for Time and other international
magazines and newspapers. Golestan was honored
with the Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1979. However,
due to the political climate in Iran, he was unable
to collect this prize for thirteen years.
But as Maziar Bahari writes in the Preface ‘Journalism in Iran is a cat and-mouse game, and Kaveh mastered the art of dodging the cat. Whereas the officials were amateurs who defended the interest of whomever their boss was at any given time, Kaveh was a true professional, and a patriot. He knew the history of Iran inside out. His love for his country was not irrational or sentimental. He had a real grasp of the conquerors, losers, poets and assassins comprising the history of Iran. He documented a revolution and a war under the close surveillance of government-appointed minders. His erudition and deep understanding of Iranian culture allowed him to know exactly what he wanted, and his ruthless professionalism allowed him to get it by any means necessary. To Kaveh there was nothing more important than recording the truth of his country, with all its faults and glory’.
I want to show you images that will be like a
slap in your face to shatter your security.
You can look away, turn off, hide your identity
like murderers, but you cannot stop the truth.
No one can.” Kaveh Golestan
“Few have been able to unleash the ‘truth’ with
such artistic and humanitarian vision; Kaveh
Golestan was a photographer, a reporter, but most
of all, a poet of history whose unforgettable
images speak to us with such urgency about human
suffering and horror of war. Golestan’s work
and life were a ‘cry’ for justice to his country
and the world at large. This is a very important
and wonderful book.” Shirin Neshat
photos by Kaveh Golestan from the publication: Recording the Truth in Iran
168 pages, 128 black-and-white illustrations
Edited by Malu Halasa and Hengameh Golestan
Preface by Maziar Bahari, Text by Maziar Bahari, Masoud Behnoud, Mohammad Farnood, Kaveh Golestan, Malu Halasa, Jim Muir, Hojat Sepahvand
Language: English
25,50 x 30,50 cm Hard Cover
2007
ISBN 978-3-7757-2045-8
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Germany
exhibition of the wrok of Kaveh Golestan
5-18 June 2008