‘My photos are memories I’ve shared with Iranians’

TEHRAN,Sep.1(MNA) -- The French photojournalist Michel Setboun said that the photos he has taken during the Islamic Revolution of 1979 are memories he has shared with Iranians. Setboun, who has travelled to Iran to judge at the Rojane International Photo Festival, made a short speech at the festival’s press conference at the Iranian Artists Forum on Saturday. “I travelled to Iran in 1979 and I was everywhere in that time. I took photos of big rallies and massacres in Tehran in that time. I was with Imam Khomeini in the airplane and during his speeches in the city of Qom,” he said. “These are all the visual memories, which do not belong to me but are for all Iranians,” he added. He called his sojourn in Iran a great opportunity to improve relations between Iran and foreign countries. “There is a strange image of Iran in the world and especially in press, which seems odd to me since I know Iranians. I would like to correct this image for the people of the world,” he added. Setboun along with Iranian cineastes Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Seifollah Samadian, Mahmud Kalari, and Majid Saeidi will be selecting the final works for the exhibits, organizers have announced on the festival website. The festival focuses on the issue of water in the major section and irrigation in its special section this year, and interested applicants are asked to submit their works before July 6. The photos will be judged and selected for the exhibition, which will open in late August at the Iranian Artists Forum. Setboun came to Iran in 1979 to record the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Photos of arrival of Imam Khomeini to Iran are also among Setboun’s noteworthy credits. He worked for the Sipa Agency during the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) in Iran.