Special Issue/June 30, 2009

Iran in Turmoil
Iranian Photographers Document Struggle for Democracy in Tehran

Tehran. June 10, 2009. Group of supporters of the reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Photo by Roxanne.

Click here to view exhibit.

This past week, while Iranian leaders prohibited reporting by the international press, three Iranian photographers associated with the Paris-based photo agency Webistan continued to report from Tehran. These photographs by Raha, Roxane, and Ali (last names excluded to protect their identity) document the struggle by the Iranian people to have their voices heard and counted in the recent election.

As Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was officially declared the winner by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a huge number of Iranians (up to three million in the streets of Tehran on June 15 according to the capital's mayor) began protesting as the reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi and many independent analysts pointed out evidence of massive electoral fraud. Police and security forces repressed peaceful demonstrations, killing, beating and arresting civilians.

In front of the deaf ear of the country's leadership, the trust gap seems to be widening every day for a majority of Iranian citizens.

About SocialDocumentary.net
SocialDocumentary.net is a new website for photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and students to create and explore documentary websites investigating critical issues facing the world today. Recent exhibits have explored oil workers in the Niger River Delta, male sex workers in India, Central American immigrant women during their journey north, and Iraqi and Afghan refugees in Greece. Click here to view all of the exhibits.