26/01

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project © Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project © Mehrdad Mosaferi - The witness, like the Lady of Justice, sees without eyes — and remembers without compromise. View all images ↓
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Project 26/01 looks through the lens of a witness at the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, born after Mahsa Amini was killed by morality police, using UV-reactive prints to reveal hidden layers of memory and suppressed narratives.

Project 26/01 emerges from the tension between presence and absence, and between what is visible and what is suppressed. At its core, this project examines how bodies, especially female bodies, become sites of control, resistance, and collective memory under an oppressive state. The struggle over bodily autonomy reflects the broader dynamics of political and social power in my country.

 

The uprising that inspired this project began with the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, who was killed by the morality police for allegedly violating mandatory hijab laws. Her death sparked protests as women courageously removed their hijabs, marking the beginning of the Women, Life, Freedom movement—a struggle for bodily and social liberation that continues to this day. This project seeks to document and reflect on these acts of resistance.

 

The works are presented as diptychs. On one side, recovered screenshots from the protests—gradually censored or erased—are displayed using UV-reactive ink, revealing hidden layers under ultraviolet light. These diptychs reflect the tension between presence and absence, visibility and erasure, across bodies, memory, and urban space. Urban landscapes, borrowing the visual language of topography, depict the city as a collective body; its elevations and depressions carry traces of control, suppression, and erasure, showing that even when images and bodies are removed, memory and truth persist in hidden layers.

 

On the other side, documentary photographs of street cats mirror gestures and emotions from the protests. Cats act as silent witnesses—living archives that record truth outside official cameras, reminding viewers that truth persists even when deliberately ignored.

 

Some diptychs are intentionally left incomplete, inviting viewers to reconstruct the missing layer through their own memory. The project shifts between three types of visual compositions, allowing viewers to oscillate between roles as witness and affected subject, and fostering engagement with the tension between visibility and erasure.

 

Amid all this, I know there are always sharp-eyed witnesses—eyes that symbolize the continuity of collective memory and follow history, even when they cannot change it.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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Awounded protester, marked by pellet wounds, issupported amidst the crowd - solidarity and care strongerthan any weapon. During the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran, thousands of protesters were blinded or severely injured by pellet rounds. The regime used theserounds ot instill fear, silence, and literally take the sight from those who dared witness what they were not supposed tosee.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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To crush the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising, the regime resorted to rapid executions. Some young protesters were killed to intimidate others and silence the movement.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - The witness, like the Lady of Justice, sees without eyes — and remembers without compromise.
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The witness, like the Lady of Justice, sees without eyes — and remembers without compromise.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - In the face of bullets, they raise empty hands — vulnerable yet unbroken, defiance louder than any weapon
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In the face of bullets, they raise empty hands — vulnerable yet unbroken, defiance louder than any weapon

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - a silent testament to violence, the cost of defiance, and the endurance in the fight for justice.
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a silent testament to violence, the cost of defiance, and the endurance in the fight for justice.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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An urban landscape capturing the city streets where the protests unfolded, mapping the space of collective presence and resistance. Colors are inspired by corneal topography, connecting the environment to the memory and lived experience of the events.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - The lashes of oppression may wound the bodies of freedom-seekers, but they make their spirits unbreakable.
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The lashes of oppression may wound the bodies of freedom-seekers, but they make their spirits unbreakable.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - A young life silenced by a direct shot in the streets, yet courage echoes louder than the violence that sought to erase it.
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A young life silenced by a direct shot in the streets, yet courage echoes louder than the violence that sought to erase it.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Being a witness means remembering, even when evidence is destroyed and memory is obliterated.
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Being a witness means remembering, even when evidence is destroyed and memory is obliterated.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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After years of preparing for the dream of freedom, she must now live it—standing above the crowd, twirling her scarf in the air, and dancing

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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A young man raised his voice in the streets with nothing but his car horn, standing for freedom—yet his call was silenced forever.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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An urban landscape with the Azadi Tower (“Freedom”) in the distance—a symbol of freedom in a land where basic rights have been denied. Colors are inspired by corneal topography, linking the cityscape to collective memory and acts of resistance.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - A young woman sets her scarf—symbol of restriction and oppression—on fire.
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A young woman sets her scarf—symbol of restriction and oppression—on fire.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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An Iranian girl, after her mother was killed during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, stood at her grave, cut her hair, held it in her hands, took a photo of herself, and shared it online. The photo drew widespread attention.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - The witness watches the truth as it unfolds, for the day it will testify before Justice.
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The witness watches the truth as it unfolds, for the day it will testify before Justice.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Women, Life, Freedom, a wall from the movement.
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Women, Life, Freedom, a wall from the movement.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - The protest act of a woman with optional attire in front of the oppressors.
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The protest act of a woman with optional attire in front of the oppressors.

© Mehrdad Mosaferi - Image from the 26/01 photography project
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An urban landscape where traces of mourning, violence, and oppression linger in the memory of the city. Colors and textures are inspired by corneal topography, connecting the environment to collective memory and resistance.