Abbas (photographer)
Encyclopedia
Abbas Attar (born 1944) is an Iranian
photographer known for his photojournalism
in Biafra
, Vietnam
and South Africa in the 1970s, and for his extensive essays on religions in later years. He was a member of Sipa from 1971 to 1973, a member of Gamma (agency)
from 1974 to 1980, and joined Magnum Photos
in 1981.
, Bangladesh
, Ulster
, Vietnam
, the Middle East
, Chile
, Cuba
, and South Africa
with an essay on apartheid.
From 1978 to 1980, he photographed the revolution in Iran
, and returned in 1997 after a 17 years voluntary exile. His book iranDiary 1971-2002 (Autrement 2002) is a critical interpretation of its history, photographed and written as a personal diary.
From 1983 to 1986, he traveled in Mexico
, photographing the country as if he were writing a novel. An exhibition and a book, Return to Mexico, journeys beyond the mask (W.W.Norton 1992), which includes his travel diaries, help him define his aesthetics in photography.
From 1987 to 1994 he photographed the resurgence of Islam from the Xinjiang
to Morocco
. His book and exhibition Allah O Akbar, a journey through militant Islam (Phaidon 1994) exposes the internal tensions within Muslim societies, torn between a mythical past and a desire for modernization and democracy. The book draws special attention after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
When the year 2000 became a landmark in the universal calendar, Christianity is the symbol of the strength of Western civilization. Faces of Christianity, a photographic journey (A.Abrams 2000) and a touring exhibit, explored this religion as a political, a ritual and a spiritual phenomenon.
From 2000 to 2002 he worked on Animism. In our world defined by science and technology, why do irrational rituals make a strong come-back? He abandoned this project on the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist action in New York.
His book, In Whose Name? The Islamic World after 9/11(Thames and Hudson 2009), is a seven years quest within 16 countries : opposed by governments who hunt them mercilessly, the jihadists lose many battles, but are they not winning the war to control the mind of the people, with the "creeping islamisation" of all Muslim societies?
From 2008 to 2010 Abbas travelled the world of Buddhism, photographing with the same skeptical eye for his book "Les Enfants du lotus, voyage chez les bouddhistes" (De la Martinière 2011). In 2011 he began a similar long-tem project on Hinduism.
About his photography Abbas writes:
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
photographer known for his photojournalism
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
in Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and South Africa in the 1970s, and for his extensive essays on religions in later years. He was a member of Sipa from 1971 to 1973, a member of Gamma (agency)
Gamma (agency)
Gamma is a French photo agency, founded in 1966 by Raymond Depardon, Hubert Henrotte, Hugues Vassal and Léonard de Raemy. Gilles Caron joined the agency shortly after its foundation...
from 1974 to 1980, and joined Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
in 1981.
Career
Abbas, an Iranian transplanted to Paris, has dedicated his photographic work to the political and social coverage of the developing southern nations. Since 1970, his major work, published in world magazines, includes wars and revolutions in BiafraBiafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with an essay on apartheid.
From 1978 to 1980, he photographed the revolution in Iran
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
, and returned in 1997 after a 17 years voluntary exile. His book iranDiary 1971-2002 (Autrement 2002) is a critical interpretation of its history, photographed and written as a personal diary.
From 1983 to 1986, he traveled in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, photographing the country as if he were writing a novel. An exhibition and a book, Return to Mexico, journeys beyond the mask (W.W.Norton 1992), which includes his travel diaries, help him define his aesthetics in photography.
From 1987 to 1994 he photographed the resurgence of Islam from the Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. His book and exhibition Allah O Akbar, a journey through militant Islam (Phaidon 1994) exposes the internal tensions within Muslim societies, torn between a mythical past and a desire for modernization and democracy. The book draws special attention after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
When the year 2000 became a landmark in the universal calendar, Christianity is the symbol of the strength of Western civilization. Faces of Christianity, a photographic journey (A.Abrams 2000) and a touring exhibit, explored this religion as a political, a ritual and a spiritual phenomenon.
From 2000 to 2002 he worked on Animism. In our world defined by science and technology, why do irrational rituals make a strong come-back? He abandoned this project on the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist action in New York.
His book, In Whose Name? The Islamic World after 9/11(Thames and Hudson 2009), is a seven years quest within 16 countries : opposed by governments who hunt them mercilessly, the jihadists lose many battles, but are they not winning the war to control the mind of the people, with the "creeping islamisation" of all Muslim societies?
From 2008 to 2010 Abbas travelled the world of Buddhism, photographing with the same skeptical eye for his book "Les Enfants du lotus, voyage chez les bouddhistes" (De la Martinière 2011). In 2011 he began a similar long-tem project on Hinduism.
About his photography Abbas writes:
« My photography is a reflection, which comes to life in action and leads to meditation. Spontaneity – the suspended moment – intervenes during action, in the viewfinder. A reflection on the subject precedes it. A meditation on finality follows it, and it is here, during this exalting and fragile moment, that the real photographic writing develops, sequencing the images. For this reason a writer’s spirit is necessary to this enterprise. Isn’t photography « writing with light »? But with the difference that while the writer possesses his word, the photographer is himself possessed by his photo, by the limit of the real which he must transcend so as not to become its prisoner. »
Books
- Iran, la révolution confisquée, Clétrat , Paris 1980
- Retornos a Oapan, FCE Rio de Luz , Mexico 1986
- Return to Mexico, W.W.Norton, New York 1992
- Allah O Akbar, voyages dans l’Islam militant, Phaidon, London 1994
- Allah O Akbar, a journey through militant Islam, Phaidon, London 1994
- Viaggio negli Islam del Mondo, Contrasto, Roma 2002
- Voyage en chrétientés, La Martiniere, Paris 2000
- Faces of Christianity, A.Abrams, New York 2000
- Glaube-liebe-hoffnung, Knesebeck, Munchen 2000
- IranDiary 1971-2002, Autrement, Paris 2002
- IranDiario 1971-2005, Sagiattore, Milano 2006
- Abbas, I Grandi Fotografi di Magnum, Hachette, Milano 2005
- Sur la Route des Esprits, Delpire, Paris 2005
- The children of Abraham, (exhibition catalogue), Intervalles, Paris 2006
- In Whose Name?, Thames and Hudson, London 2009
- "Ali, le Combat", Editions Sonatines, Paris 2011
- "Les Enfants du lotus, voyage chez les bouddhistes", De la Martinière, Paris 2011
Exhibits
- 1972
- Ganvie People, Falomo, Nigeria
- 1977
- Retrospective, Galerie Litho, Tehran; Ce jour là, Galerie FNAC, Paris
- 1980
- Iran, the revolution, Tehran Museum of Contemporary ArtTehran Museum of Contemporary ArtTehran's Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum in Tehran, Iran.Inaugurated in 1977, and built adjacent to Tehran's Laleh Park, the museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba, who employed elements from traditional Persian architecture. The building can be listed as a contemporary...
; Darvazeh Ghar mosque, Tehran; Fundacao Cultural, Rio de Janeiro
- Iran, the revolution, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
- 1982
- Citizen of the Third World, Photographer’s Gallery, London; Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, G.B.
- 1983
- Retrospective, Consejo de Fotogragia, Mexico
- 1984
- Retrospective, Galerie ARPA, Bordeaux, France
- 1986
- Votez pour Moi, Galerie Magnum, Paris
- 1991
- Retrospective, Imagina, Almeria, Espana
- 1992
- Return to Mexico, Mexico Cultural Center, Paris; Maison pour Tous, Calais
- 1994
- Retornos a Mexico, Centro Nacional de la Fotografia, Mexico
- 1999
- Islamies, Place Royale, Brussels
- Islamies, Arab World Institute, Paris
- Chrétiens, House of Photography, Moscou
- Chrétiens, Eberhardskirche, Stuttgart
- 2002
- Iran, the revolution, The Grey Gallery, New York
- Viaggio negli Islam del mondo, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze, Italia
- Visiones de l’Islam, la Caixa, Tarragona, Madrid, Malaga, Orense, Espana
- IranDiary, Visa in Perpignan, France
- 2003
- Visiones de l’Islam, la Caixa, Girona, Granada, Pamplona and Palma de Mallorca, Espana
- 2004
- Iran, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
- Resurgence of Shias , Visa in Perpignan, France
- Ya Saddam, Noorderlicht, Leeuwarden, Hollande
- Islams, The United Nations, New York
- 2005
- Sur la Route des Esprits, La Chambre Claire, Paris
- 2006
- The Children of Abraham, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
- Islams and Shias, Vicino/Lontano, Udine, Italia
- 2007
- The Children of Abraham, Groningen and Amsterdam, Holland
- 2008
- The Children of Abraham, Institut Français de Fès, Morocco
- Jardin Botanique, Brussels, Belgium
- 2009
- In Whose Name?, Magnum Gallery, Paris
- Visa, Perpignan
- Gallerie Polka, Paris
- 2011
- Abbas, 45 Years in Photography, National Museum of Singapore