CAIRO: It is only when Iranian soldiers’ bullets were headed towards Manoocher Deghati – who was armed only with his camera – that he realized his true calling.
Initially an aspiring cinematographer, Deghati left Iran to study in Italy. In 1978, when violent demonstrations broke out against the Shah, he returned to his homeland to observe the situation through his lens.
During these demonstrations, he became the target of soldiers’ bullets.
“I knew right then and there that I was on the right side. If they were shooting at me, they must be wrong, he told Daily News Egypt.
A renowned photojournalist, Deghati’s work is published by major publications around the world, altering people’s perception of war. He covered major events and wars around the world, including the guerilla war in El Salvador and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In an exclusive interview with Daily News Egypt, he recalls the horrors he faced during that time in Iran, in which he covered major events including the Iraq-Iran War.
“I was detained, beaten, had pistols put to my head, he said.
During his last years in his Persian homeland in the early 1980s, after the Islamic revolution had toppled the Shah, he was banned from working but still managed to sneak a few pictures here and there and send them out without his signature.
In 1983, he won the World Press Photo award. However, his name was not announced for his personal security.
Deghati, his wife and one-year old daughter, were eventually forced to leave Iran again in 1985. “One day someone came to me and told me that if I didn’t leave, I would lose my head. So I decided that a photographer with a head is better than one without, he joked.
Twenty-four years later, Deghati is yet to return to his country.
“I am Iranian and I have the right to go back to my country. But working there would be a problem, so there is no point in going back and visiting and getting into trouble, he said. Yet, he stressed that he is still determined to return.
Earlier this month, Deghati was in Cairo holding a photojournalism workshop at the Contemporary Collective Image (CIC).
After experiencing life in the Egyptian capital for four years – from 1991 to 1995, when he headed the regional photo service of Agence France-Presse – Deghati saw the title “Eternal Cairo fit for his workshop.
“I think the essence of Cairo is always there, the people maintain their humor despite all the major problems, he said.
However, during his current stay in Egypt, he said he felt the political and social pressures mounting in people more than ever. “They are less happy, he said.
Deghati predicts a murky future for Egypt, should Islamist movements take over the current regime.
“Since the 90s, around 80 percent of women in Egypt started wearing the veil. For me this is more dangerous because it is happening slowly, it is not happening violently as it did in Iran, he explained.
“In Iran, if, lets say, tomorrow there is another revolution, I’m sure women, who wore the veil before the revolution, would take off their veil because it was imposed on them. But the danger in Egypt is that it is happening willingly and slowly.
Deghati attributes wearing the veil to making a political statement. “If an Egyptian woman was secular and one day puts on a veil, she is making a very strong political statement against the regime. And this, in my opinion, is more dangerous than what happened in Iran, he said.
Deghati directly blames the Wahabi ideology for the problems in the region today. “I have seen the Saudi Wahabi influence not only in Egypt but outside of Egypt in Afghanistan; the Taliban are Wahabis sponsored by Saudi Arabia.
Al-Qaeda is another product of Wahabism, he added.
He explained that Saudis started imposing the Wahabi ideology after the Soviet Union collapsed by sending books, sheikhs and money to those countries.
He also sees a “dark future ahead for the region overall as a result of its wealth – economically, historically, and culturally. This, he said, is why colonialism existed. “Everybody wanted to take over this region.
Until colonialism ceases to exist in the region, the situation will only worsen, Deghati said. “We will have wars, we will have more destruction.
Deghati says he was successful in overcoming all the challenges that faced him throughout his career by following one simple philosophy: balance.
He explained that in photojournalism, it is difficult to maintain the balance “of being involved and at the same time not being involved, because our involvement is through our camera, through our eyes, he said.
Deghati was shot in the leg in Ramallah in 1996 by Israeli snipers, and spent a year and half in a military hospital in France and another six months learning how to walk again.
A self-proclaimed “militant photojournalist, Deghati says photojournalism is his life, rather than just his job.
His artistic style distinguishes his work from other photojournalists’. “I add some kind of painting to my pictures because I think a lot about composition more than others as well as imagination, he said.
He credits Iranian culture as an inspiration.
“Iranian poeticism is very visual. If I recite a poem by Rumi or Hafez it’s like a slideshow. I could tell you two lines of a poem and it’s like you are seeing it. This culture comes through in my photography and has given me a different style.
