From the beginning of the large anti-Shah demonstrations in Tehran on December 10, 1978, to the withdrawal of the Iranian military on February 11, 1979, Days of Blood, Days of Fire captures the joys and uncertainties of the people as they move from the massive Tasu’a and Ashura demonstrations to the joyous celebrations of the Shah’s departure and, finally, to the revolution’s victory. The book is comprised of 135 photographs by Bahman Jalali, who is best known for his Iran-Iraq war photography, along with 16 photographs by his wife, Rana Javadi, and a handful of others.
Days of Blood, Days of Fire was published in 1979 by Zamineh, the only independent publishing house at that time in Tehran. This book was Zamineh’s first publication and went on to become a bestseller twice before losing its publication license. Forty years later, Spector Books is bringing this powerful book back into print.
Published by Walther König, Köln. Text by Ali Behdad, Hamid Dabashi, Dariush Shayegan.
This elegantly produced volume gathers three extraordinary photo-series by Iranian photographer Bahman Jalali: the Iranian Revolution (1978–79), the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and a portrait of Iran’s postwar years, from 2000–08, titled Image of Imagination. Jalali’s photographic accounts of his country’s recent history have made him one of Iran’s most important chroniclers.
Bahman Jalali