Abbas

Abbas Attar (; full name: ʿAbbās ʿAṭṭār; 29 March 1944 – 25 April 2018), better known by his mononym Abbas, was an Iranian photographer known for his photojournalism in Biafra, Vietnam and South Africa in the 1970s, and for his extensive essays on religions in later years.

Career Attar, an Iranian transplanted to Paris, dedicated his photographic work to the political and social coverage of the developing southern nations. Since 1970, his major works have been published in world magazines and include wars and revolutions in Biafra, Bangladesh, Ulster, Vietnam, the Middle East, Chile, Cuba, and South Africa with an essay on apartheid.

From 1978 to 1980, he photographed the revolution in Iran, and returned in 1997 after a 17-year exile. His book iranDiary 1971–2002 (2002) is a critical interpretation of its history, photographed and written as a personal diary.

From 1983 to 1986, he travelled throughout Mexico, photographing the country as if he were writing a novel. by director Kamy Pakdel (who also served as art director for some of Abbas' books) was completed days before Abbas' death. In the film Abbas is asked how he got a particular shot and he replies “Let the photos live their lives and keep their mystery.”

He died in Paris on 25 April 2018, aged 74.

About his photography Abbas wrote: My photography is a reflection, which comes to life in action and leads to meditation. Spontaneity – the suspended moment – intervenes during action, in the viewfinder. A reflection on the subject precedes it. A meditation on finality follows it, and it is here, during this exalting and fragile moment, that the real photographic writing develops, sequencing the images. For this reason a writer's spirit is necessary to this enterprise. Isn't photography "writing with light"? But with the difference that while the writer possesses his word, the photographer is himself possessed by his photo, by the limit of the real which he must transcend so as not to become its prisoner.

Books

Iran, la révolution confisquée, Clétrat, Paris, 1980 Retornos a Oapan, FCE Rio de Luz, Mexico, 1986 Return to Mexico, W. W. Norton, New York, 1992 Allah O Akbar, voyages dans l’Islam militant, Phaidon, London, 1994 Allah O Akbar, a journey through militant Islam, Phaidon, London, 1994 Viaggio negli Islam del Mondo, Contrasto, Roma, 2002 Voyage en chrétientés, La Martiniere, Paris, 2000 Faces of Christianity, A. Abrams, New York, 2000 Glaube-liebe-hoffnung, Knesebeck, Munchen, 2000 IranDiary 1971–2002, Autrement, Paris, 2002 IranDiario 1971–2005, Sagiattore, Milano, 2006 Abbas, I Grandi Fotografi di Magnum, Hachette, Milan, 2005 Sur la Route des Esprits, Delpire, Paris, 2005 The children of Abraham, (exhibition catalogue), Intervalles, Paris, 2006 In Whose Name?, Thames & Hudson, London, 2009 Ali, le Combat, Sonatines, Paris, 2011 Les Enfants du lotus, voyage chez les bouddhistes, De la Martinière, Paris, 2011 Gods I've Seen, Phaidon Press Ltd, 2016

Exhibitions

1972: Ganvie People, Falomo, Nigeria 1977: Retrospective, Galerie Litho, Tehran; Ce jour là, Galerie FNAC, Paris 1977: Le reportage d'agence, Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France 1980: Iran, the revolution, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art; Darvazeh Ghar mosque, Tehran; Fundacao Cultural, Rio de Janeiro 1982: Citizen of the Third World, The Photographers' Gallery, London; Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, G.B. 1983: Retrospective, Consejo de Fotogragia, Mexico; Galerie ARPA, Bordeaux, France, 1983; Imagina, Almeria, Espana, 1991 1986: Votez pour Moi, Magnum Gallery, Paris 1992: Return to Mexico, Mexico Cultural Center, Paris; Maison pour Tous, Calais; Centro Nacional de la Fotografia, Mexico, 1994 1999: Islamies, Place Royale, Brussels; Islamies, Arab World Institute, Paris, 1999 1999: Christians, Moscow House of Photography, Moscow; Eberhardskirche, Stuttgart, 1999; Centre cultural français, Seoul, Korea, 1999 2002: Iran, the revolution, The Grey Gallery, New York 2002: Viaggio negli Islam del mondo, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze, Italia 2002: Visiones de l’Islam, La Caixa, Tarragona, Madrid, Malaga, Orense, Espana 2002: IranDiary, Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France 2003: Visiones de l’Islam, La Caixa, Girona, Granada, Pamplona and Palma de Mallorca, Espana 2004: Iran, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin 2004: Resurgence of Shias, Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France 2004: Ya Saddam, Noorderlicht, Leeuwarden, Hollande 2004: Islams, United Nations, New York 2005: Sur la Route des Esprits, La Chambre Claire, Paris 2006: The Children of Abraham, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo 2006: Islams and Shias, Vicino/Lontano, Udine, Italia 2007: The Children of Abraham, Groningen and Amsterdam, Holland; Institut Français de Fès, Morocco, 2008 2008: Jardin Botanique, Brussels, Belgium 2009: In Whose Name?, Magnum Gallery, Paris 2009: Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France 2009: Gallerie Polka, Paris 2011: Abbas, 45 Years in Photography, National Museum of Singapore 2014: Faces of Christianity, Photography Festival, Guernsey

Honours On March 29, 2024, Google recognised him with a Google Doodle.