TEHRAN – “Mirrored Reflections”, a major exhibition of the 15th edition of the Fajr Festival of Visual Arts, opened on Tuesday at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

This posthumous exhibit showcases a collection of photos of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran by Qorban Khalili, most famous for his striking single shot later entitled “Soldier, don’t shoot”.

This exhibition, whose first edition was held in 2022, was initiated by the festival organizers to highlight art collections on the revolution.

A collection of paintings by different artists were put on view in the previous edition.

“Mirrored Reflections 2” is curated by Mojtaba Kuchaki, who first hung the photos at the Iranian Photographers Center (IPC) during an exhibition named “The Green Beat” in 2004.

“Qorban Khalili remained unknown for everybody except his colleagues until the middle of the 2000s,” Kuchaki said during the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

“There are three memorable photos of the revolution published by Kayhan; one by Abodolhossein Partovi and two by Khalili,” he added.  

“He took a few photos of the early days of the revolution. Although he was a self-taught freelance photographer and no organization supported him, yet he did a great job with his collection,” he noted.

Comprising 1241 photos, Khalili’s collection covers the various events of the revolution from mid-September 1978 to mid-March 1979.

Only 57 photos from the collection remain and the rest have been lost, Kuchaki said and asked the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to help search for the missing photos.

All the 57 rare photos, which are being preserved at the Iranian Photographers Center, are on view at the exhibition running until April 19.

“Soldier, don’t shoot” is one of the photos taken by Khalili. The picture shows a member of the security force aiming at a protester who is a short distance away. 

Published by Kayhan, a major daily based in Tehran, the photo was captioned “Soldier, don’t shoot”, which later became a title for the photo.  

Copies of fifteen photographs by Khalili are also on view in an exhibition at the Khaneh Gallery of the Art Bureau.

The exhibition entitled “44 Years” is also showcasing rare photos of the revolution by Iranian photographer Qasem Hajmohammadi and the renowned French photojournalist Michel Setboun.

Photo: A man visits the exhibition “Mirrored Reflections” at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on February 7, 2023. (ISNA/Hadi Zand)

MMS/YAW