The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

visual arts I by Bill Jeffries Unsent Dispatches from the Iranian Revolution It is e a r l y 2 0 0 5 a n d e y e s a l l a r o u n d t h e w o r l d a r e f o c u s s e d o n t h e M i d d l e East, as t h e y h a v e b e e n f o r several d e c a d e s . T h e I r a n i a n R e v o l u t i o n o f 1 9 7 8 a n d 1 9 7 9 is n o w a d i s t a n t m e m o r y , b u t t h e e v e n t s o f t h a t t i m e i n Iran h a v e b o t h r e p e r c u s s i o n s a n d l e s s o n s f o r u s t o d a y . A k b a r N a z e m i is a p h o t o g r a p h e r a n d f i l m m a k e r w h o h a s a s t u d i o h e r e i n N o r t h V a n c o u v e r a n d it is his p h o t o g r a p h s t h a t I call ' u n s e n t d i s p a t c h e s ' . has h a d a l o n g historical a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h p h o t o g r a p h s that are 'tough' to make, a s if t h e g r a i n itself w a s a n i n d i c a t o r of d i f f i c u l t y . It is n o t o n l y g r a i n a n d g r i t t h a t a r e s h a r e d . T h e r a n d o m n e s s o f u r b a n life - t h e v a r i e d p a t t e r n s o f b u i l d i n g f a c a d e s a n d h u m a n m o t i o n - s h o w u p in b o t h t h e daily u r b a n routine a n d in t h e n o n - q u o t i d i a n freezing of a revolutionary c a n reveal moment. what no Photography, eventual In 1 9 7 8 h e w a s s t u d y i n g i n D u s s e l d o r f w h e n a f e l l o w s t u d e n t a s k e d if h e h e a r d w h a t w a s h a p p e n i n g i n I r a n . happening?" "Demonstrations." Nazemi says " N o , what's he couldn't In A k b a r N a z e m i ' s c a s e m u c h o f t h i s t e l l - t a l e g r a i n r e s u l t s f r o m the difficulty of obtaining goods a n d services during a the moment, revolution will winner acknowledge - the r a n d o m quality of t h e events leading u p t o t h e o u t c o m e . b e l i e v e it, s i m p l y b e c a u s e t h e s t r e n g t h o f t h e S h a h ' s a r m y w a s s u c h t h a t it s e e m e d i m p o s s i b l e t o h i m t h a t t h e p e o p l e would revolution. W h e r e d o e s o n e p u r c h a s e f i l m w h e n t h e shops are a l l c l o s e d ? W h e r e d o y o u p r o c e s s f i l m s h o t d u r i n g t h e d a y if y o u w a n t t o exhibit t h e prints t h e next d a y as part o f the ' n e w s ' that w a s postered at t h e university? N a z e m i shot o n out-of-date film, w i t h 3 5 m m m o t i o n picture film stock, o n f i l m s m a d e b y m a n y d i f f e r e n t m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d p r o c e s s e d his f i l m in c o n d i t i o n s a n d c h e m i s t r y t h a t w e r e f a r f r o m ideal. be a l l o w e d t o protest. O n this n e w s h e started p a c k i n g a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e l y a n d w a s b a c k in T e h r a n in July 1 9 7 8 . H e n o t o n l y d e s c r i b e d it a s " a v e r y h a p p y t i m e , " "now is the time." This b u t he also is thought, of exhibition comprised approximately one hundred photographs selected from a n d fourty of Akbar the 3,600 that Nazemi's their years. survived p r e c a r i o u s j o u r n e y s a n d s t o r a g e o v e r t h e last t w e n t y - f i v e What Nazemi's p h o t o g r a p h s o f t h e Iranian R e v o l u t i o n w e r e m a d e at s u b s t a n t i a l p e r s o n a l risk. H e w a s a n a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h o s e events, m a k i n g images during the d a y a n d processing film or distributing communications by night. Moreover, Nazemi w a s not only shooting 35mm photographs. He also carried a Nazemi's images bring to us a r e t h e contrasting when e m o t i o n s a n d tensions that permeate t h e public sphere it t a k e s t h e f o r m o f m a s s civil d i s o b e d i e n c e a n d u n r e s t . I s o l a t e d individuals are s o m e t i m e s seen t o be carrying o u t an action that they d e e m i m p o r t a n t in o n e picture, b u t in t h e next, a million people are m a r c h i n g t h r o u g h Tehran in a line that w i n d - u p 1 6 m m B o l e x w i t h h i m e v e r y d a y , s w i t c h i n g f r o m still cameras t o m o t i o n pictures f o r particularly significant events. stretches b e y o n d t h e h o r i z o n . People f r o m a b r o a d range of social strata are seen w o r k i n g t o w a r d a c o m m o n goal, a n d because o f that commonality, events that were n o t truly structure. Even those of us w h o have never directly experienced street humanity organized seem to be models of organizational t h e c h a o s o f r e v o l u t i o n c a n f e e l t h a t r e v o l u t i o n is a p h e n o m e n o n , part o f t h e u r b a n d y n a m i c in w h i c h architecture, n o t unlike electricity or t h e w a t e r those the rhythms that are at t h e core revolution in t h e streets A k b a r N a z e m i s a y s t h a t w h a t h e t o o k a w a y f r o m it a l l w a s " t h a t t h e r e is h o p e f o r e v e r y n a t i o n , a n d t h a t t h e r e is a b a s i c g o o d n e s s in every p e r s o n . " f l o w s t h r o u g h t h e s p a c e o f t h e city, s h a p e d b y its s t r e e t s a n d s u p p l y . It is between street o f t h e link a n d non-revolutionary p h o t o g r a p h y , w h i c h h a s l o n g h a d t h e g r a i n i n e s s o f its e m u l s i o n a c t a s a s i g n i f i e r o f t h e g r i t t i n e s s o f s t r e e t life itself. G r a i n i n e s s M a r c h I A p r i l Akbar Nazemi: Unsent Dispatches from the Iranian Revolution is on view at Presentation House Gallery fMarch 5 to April 17. The exhibition Is co-curated by Pantea Haghlghi and Bill Jeffries.