The Pictorial Story of War

Elham Saleh
Translated by: Mohammad Baqer Khoshnevisan

2015-11-16

Note: What is of great significance in oral history is that the oral historian could wake up the dormant memory and recalls the narrator again what has been forgotten, forcing him or her to speak about it. One of the most efficient tools in this regard which makes the job of historian easy is photo. The photos related to an event are evoked in the narrator's mind. Thus, the publication of historical photos is of great importance in the area of oral history. "War Photographers" by Ali Fereidooni is such an example in the area of the sacred defense history.

Here, we are facing with a story, the one which is not born out of imagination. It is real, an absolute reality. A story which has not been manipulated, lessened or added and has been expressed as occurred. 

We witness a story inside the pages of the book. The entire book can be a story; the story of a war, the one which has not been started from the fronts. It has been started from the alleys, the houses. We can think about it, search for it more and discover more details about it. All of these depend on the audience's effort.

"War Photographers" (Iran and Iraq) is a collection of photos which has been released in the form of a book but narrates the war story.

The book is about the war between Iran and Iraq, narrating it from 1980 to 1988. Part of the book reads, "The Iraqi imposed war against Iran began formally on 22^nd of September 1980 as the Iraqi army attacked southern and western cities of Iran as well as Tehran's Mehrabad Airport although the border towns in western Iran like Qasr-e Shirin, Kermanshah and Sar-e Pol-e Zahab had already been under the Iraqi artillery fire. But nobody imagined that Iraq violates 1975 Algiers Agreement and attack Iran."

The first photo of the book shows a Basiji (volunteer force) coming back from Valfajr Operations in January 1983; a very young boy who is coming back from war fronts. There is no need that he speaks; the photo speaks with the audience. This Basiji is an example of teenage boys who headed for the fronts at the age of 15 or 16.

But we may be better to start from the book's cover; the image of an injured teenager beside a young man with a headband on which has been written "Oh, Seyed al-Shohada" or the chief of martyrs. The wound dressing is not professional as if his comrades have dressed him before the arrival of relief workers. This situation had been existed in all the fronts, shortage of facilities including medical, well-fare and even warfare ones. The photo obviously shows that the war combatants were always thinking about the defense even in the worst situation.

Yes, we are supposed to face with a war story in this book; the story which is certainly bitter. We can arrange the story a little. For instance we can take a look at it from the very beginning of the path; the young boys are firm to go to fronts from inside the houses. They will do this whether to get their parents' agreement or not. They forge signature or manipulate their IDs. They have to defend country under any condition. The parents are worried. Some of them agree very hard and some vice versa but eventually they will agree. Now add the number of the families, the mothers get together. They have come to see off their children; Tehran, Baharestan Square in front of Martyr Motahari Higher School. They are seeing off the war combatants with flowers.

The next photo shows a mass of soldiers. They have fastened a headband on their helmets on which has been written "On the order of the Spirit of God". The venue is the Officer's College and the date is March 1983. We in the next photo see them while getting in the bus. All of them pass under the holy Quran which is in the hand of a clergy. A part of the war story inside the cities. The photos have been registered in Tehran but the conditions in other cities are the same.   

The war inside the cities has also another story. Tehran, the neighborhood of Khazaneh Bpkharaee, March 1985, the house have been razed to the ground. In a photo, the people are waiting for the survivors to be found form the debris. In another photo, a man is weeping beside the debris. The war has spread into the cities but not just by the dispatching of men to the fronts but also by killing the people and destroying their shelters.

The next photos are the story of a funeral in Majidieh neighborhood. The people have taken part in a funeral for seven members of a family on May 28, 1985.

Nobody talks about the photos. In fact there is no need. The photos speak themselves and the short comments written under them express the stories that have happened. Such short comments are enough for the curious audience. If he or she is interested to know more about, he or she will search more.

A woman from the city of Ilam who is inside a defense shelter is another part of the war story inside the cities. The woman is inside the shelter but she has also a gun on her shoulder. She will fight if needed.

There are also stories in the war fronts ranging from dispatching to the frontlines to heavy fighting of the war combatants in the frontline, from capturing the Iraqi POWs to transferring of the wounded and martyrs to behind the fronts. Like this photo: a combatant in front, he has a chain in his hand, the end of the chain has been connected to a donkey and there is the body of a martyr on this donkey. Another combatant has kept the donkey's harness. The two combatants are the members of the Logistics group, in Iraq's Panj'vein in October 1983. There is no ambulance or relief worker. Doesn't this photo narrate the hard conditions of transferring the injured and the martyrs? 

The photos are illustrative. Even if they are not, the comment written under them help the audience to understand the event better. Five young boys in the photos background; the fifth one from left has covered his face. He is crying. The third one form the middle is showing an ID to the photographer. It is the ID of Qader Assadi who has been martyred in a bombardment. 

Even memento photos of this collection transfer details to the audience. The Basiji combatants have taken a memento photo in northern Kurdistan Province during Valfajr 4 Operations. An old man with white beard beside a teenager whose beard has not grown yet. There was no age restriction at that time, old men and teenagers alongside each other defended their country Iran. This is the history of the sacred defense in the form of photos.  

The combatants who were praying in an uncrowded corner, the combatants who were relaxing inside narrow trenches while seating, the combatants who were martyred while passing on the mines and … these photos speak, no need anyone comment about them.  

Iraqi POWs inside a mosque in Mehran area, the visiting of another group of Iraqi POWs with their families in Takhti Stadium. They are all moments of the story of the sacred defense.

The story in "War Photographers" came to an end with photos from the visiting of Iranian families with the freed POWs. But the story of the sacred has not finished for the families whose a member has gone to the front. The story continues.  

"War Photographers" are part of the eight-year history of the scared defense. The photos have been edited with comments under them.

The preface has been written by photographers Mohsen Rastani and Seifollah Samadian. The photographer of this collection has been introduced to the readers with a short biography.   

Nevertheless, the best phrases about the book and the aim of its publication may be the ones used by Ali Fereidooni in part of this book. These phrases both determine the aim for its publication, and are evident that the photos can be part of the history of the sacred defense period.
"This book means that more photos have become lasting and they may be seen more and more. It means that when we were running through trenches behind the bulwarks, it has not been waste of time. It means that the future children of this land may understand a little easier where and how they have been raised and how their parents have been thinking or what have been their demands," Fereidooni said about the book.