On the occasion of the International Day of Peace, September 21, the Iranian documentary photographer Mehdi Monem will showcase in Tehran his unseen photos of victims of the Iraq-Iran war.
His newest solo exhibition will include photos of victims of war which have not been shown earlier or published in his books, ISNA reported.
A total of 15 photos on the harm civilians suffer in times of war will be displayed. The subjects include people who have had a hard life coping with health problems caused by poison gas attacks during the 1980-1988 military hostilities.
The photos were taken during his recent visits to the border towns that were subjected to the Iraqi chemical attacks.
Monem, 55, is a self-educated photographer. Since the aftermath of the Iraqi aggression, he has been working on the human suffering of war victims. He has published two books on his photo collections so far. “What I seek can only be found in the western and southwestern cities in Iran as the chemical bombings took place there and affected the lives of people in the region and continue to do so even now,” Monem said.
On September 22, 1980, Iraq launched the attack on Iran by bombing border towns and cities in an unprovoked attack. During the eight years, border cities and urban regions were attacked by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s army with poison gas in clear violation of international treaties and the 1949 Geneva conventions. Many women and children died in the chemical attacks. The imposed war resulted in at least a million casualties on both sides and left half a million with permanent disabilities.
Halabja, Baneh and Marivan in Kurdistan Province, Sardasht and Oshnavieh in West Azarbaijan Province and Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermanshah Province all in western part of Iran were among the cities which saw massive chemical attacks during the war.
Monem’s photos show civilians in urban areas caught in aerial bombardments and those gassed by chemical weapons.
The exhibition will open on September 16 at No. 6 Gallery located on Mirza-ye-Shirazi Street in central Tehran and will continue till September 23.
