Testament

I was right Bloody noses are just like roses And I've got the right To choose my own life Like a full circle This is our sacrifice.

The truth of death is important in that the principle of death is accepted by all human beings, whether materialistic or religious. Is death the end of human life or, is it the beginning of another life? Is this an excuse to trap ourselves and others under the pretext of martyrdom?

Most human beings do their best to prevent themselves from facing death, but the question is, what is it in testimony that justifies human beings killing themselves and their kind?

What is war? Why does this name justify many killings by different countries under various pretexts, including defense? It is a dirty game between two warring parties that many families inadvertently face the loss of loved ones. Many men and women suffer from permanent disabilities after the war. Many of us experienced this bitter experience. Have we ever wondered who's right to play with? Do we realize that we are enemies of the people of the other countries that we are fighting with as well?

Are we in a death and life cycle where we will experience the same experiences over different times or, this is just the other people's life story we are watching or, this is our life story in the people's mirrors?

I come from a country that unfortunately has eight years of war in its record. Much of my childhood was spent in the war with bombs, poverty, and seeing the martyrdom of innocent Iranians. The bitter experiences of war still linger in me. About two years ago, on my way to Walnut Creek, I came across a view of the Crosses of Lafayette, a memorial to the Iraq war. The idea of this collection was like a fetus from that time until recently in my mind. The dark living conditions and seeing the people who die every day because of Covid 19 caused these photos to be born.

It is the directed reality environment project. Most of the crosses were in that location but I staged and added more elements like the hanged mask on the single cross. Photos telling the narrative of the darkness of the war. All the grains are added in post-production to shows the mood and the loneliness. The loneliness that I experienced after losing some of my family members and friends.

These photographs are presented in 4x5 film style as an homage to my love of film photography. Since the processing time for film photography is not as fast as digital, I did not use an actual film camera to capture the images. The technique used for some of the double-exposed photos is made with the camera, not in photoshop.

Photography has been born with science and technology. keeping up to date with that helped me to use the new technique with a Fujifilm camera for creating these photographs. These photos were taken with great depth of field to show the loneliness that anyone can have after losing a loved one in the war.

Hoping for a world without war

Tirdad Aghakhani 2020