Sasan Moayedi: Remembering the Years of War

I was born in 1959 in Tehran.
At the age of sixteen, I began working at the Educational Television of Iran and received my first camera—a gift that changed the course of my life. In 1981, after completing my military service, I joined Soroush Publishing House and worked under the guidance of Bahman Jalali.

Sasan Moayedi

War has always been a human tragedy, and ordinary people bear the heaviest cost. My professional work began alongside the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War. I was never asked to photograph the war, yet remaining silent about what I witnessed was unbearable.

Without official permission, and alongside my organizational duties, I documented moments of the conflict. More than 12,760 frames of negatives and 135 slides formed a visual record of the longest war of the twentieth century.

During the eight years of war, I witnessed the deaths of children and countless unforgettable scenes—moments that remain permanently etched in my memory.

I am a photographer from a beautiful Middle East, striving to tell stories of resilience, suffering, and humanity through my images.

Since 2006, I have been working as an independent photographer. My focus has always been on documentary photography: capturing the everyday lives of people, their struggles, rituals, and celebrations. So far, I have held 51 solo exhibitions and published seven books of my work. For me, photography is not just about images; it is about memory, truth, and humanity.

My archive stands as a living witness to nearly five decades of Iran’s history—a history marked by crises, silences, and transformations.