In the big picture, I’m just another UBC student trying to get an education. Zoom up a little bit and I’m an aspired photographer who ended up in the Global Citizens stream in CAP (Coordinated Arts Program). Inside this stream, there are three classes, one of them being ASTU. The topic of this so-called ASTU class? Persepolis.

“Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution” stated on the inside flap of Persepolis. Now instead of exploring the tragedies and hardships of the war though her her perspective, I’m more interested in her father’s. There is not a lot of background on Marji’s father, Ebi but during the Iran revolution, he photographed the truth behind the revolution, even though it was strictly forbidden. It’s Marji’s father’s work that is my real interest. Upon doing some research, I found an interview conduced by Vice’s Christine Jun with Abdullah Mohtadi, the leader of Komala, the Kurdish branch of the Communist Party in Iran. During her interview, Mohtadi stated “Iranian media is strictly controlled by the government… we need a real change in the attitude of the Iranian media.”  He also said “There is no freedom of speech. There is no freedom of assembly or press…” Now as photographer, a lot of interest comes in when countries don’t allow any media coverage or exposure, so upon some research and Google-ing, I discovered some interesting and inspiring pictures, showing the truth behind the revolution.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7856172.stm

As wonderful as books are to capture stories, trageties, achievements, etc. pictures can just capture more emotion sometimes. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. These photographs (and the slideshow from the link above) really capture what was going on during The Iranian Revolution in 1979. They provide more of a sense of background of what Marji and her parents/family was living through in Satrapi’s novel, Persepolis.