Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth by Amin Yousefi

In 'Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth', Iranian artist Amin Yousefi rephotographs images from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, isolating moments when protesters direct their gaze through the lens and toward the viewer.

In Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth, Iranian artist Amin Yousefi rephotographs images from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, highlighting moments when protesters in the crowds direct their gaze through the lens and toward the viewer. Through the curved halo of Yousefi’s loupe, the subjects appear aware of their image and its potential afterlives. Yousefi revisits this monumental time in his nation’s history as he examines the relationship between photographer and subject, reversing the presumed agency of the image-maker through the reciprocating gaze of the observer and the observed. 

Featuring texts by David Campany and Amin Yousefi, the book examines gaze in its many forms: the relationship between a photographer’s lens and its subject; state surveillance of protest movements; and the curious eyes of a viewer who later sees moments in time mediated through halftone reproduction.

Yousefi’s magnifying loupe both breaks the fourth wall and acts as a bridge in time between the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the present political moment of the viewer. In focusing on the revolutionaries whose eyes betray their awareness of the camera, Yousefi gathers a crowd of his own. With sixty-five portraits sequenced to guide the reader through this group of protesters, Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth invites viewers to confront the gaze of each member of Yousefi’s crowd and feel the emotions across each of their expressions–from triumph and regret to uncertainty.