Reza War and Peace

Born in Iran in 1952, Reza began his career at age 22 photographing the brutal regime of the Shah of Iran. For this he was thrown into prison and tortured. The horrific three-year ordeal did not intimidate or deter him, but instead strengthened his resolve to expose injustice. He made this his life’s mission. Released from prison after the Shah was overthrown, Reza photographed poverty and injustice under the Ayatollah.In 1981, he was exiled. Since then his photography has taken him from Kurdistan to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to Rwanda, from Sarajevo to Cairo, to the Bosporus and even to the Great Wall of China. War and Peace is a broad retrospective of his work to date, with personal stories and anecdotes accompanying the thematic photo essays. The philosophy of the book is Reza’s own: that war is ugly (and needs to be reported on and shown) and that peace is possible (and can also be shown). He believes that humanitarian work is an avenue to combatting war and injustice. Reza’s photography boldly expresses the duality of war and peace.