New York Times: Like much of the world, David Burnett spent the tumultuous days after this year’s disputed Iranian elections mesmerized by the images of enormous crowds protesting in the streets despite violent repression. Defying the authorities, ordinary citizens made and distributed photographs and videos that revealed a regime that was brutally striking out at its people.
The images that shocked others seemed eerily familiar to Mr. Burnett. He had witnessed and documented similar scenes in 1979 during the Iranian revolution.
“When you look at my photographs, and some of the cellphone pictures this summer, it’s almost spooky because you see the same kinds of moments, except with different cars and different clothes,” Mr. Burnett said in a telephone interview. “The irony is that the people in my pictures became the new regime that is now trying to quell the street demonstrations 30 years later.”
His extraordinary photographs of the Iranian revolution, many of which were published in Time magazine, have been compiled in “44 Days: Iran and the Remaking of the World” (Focal Point/ National Geographic), which features an introduction by the reporter John Kifner of The New York Times. The 223-page hardcover book also contains Mr. Burnett’s chronological account of the events culled from scattered notes, caption envelopes and memories prodded by looking at old contact sheets >>>
