IFP Exclusive

Legendary Iranian Photographer Abbas Attar Dies at 74

The 74-year-old Iranian photographer Abbas Attar passed away in Paris on Wednesday.

His passing was announced by his employer Magnum photo agency, which did not give the cause of death.

Born in Iran in 1944, Abbas began his career as a photojournalist in the late 1960s, and was a member of the French news photo agencies SIPA and Gamma during the 1970s.

He joined the prestigious Magnum Photos cooperative in 1981 and became a full member in 1985.

Attar covered the Islamic Revolution in Iran from 1978 to 1980, then spent 17 years travelling and photographing around the world in voluntary exile from his homeland.

As a result of the revolution, though, much of his subsequent work focused on the global rise of Islamism as well as other religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

Abbas covered conflicts and unrests in Bangladesh, Vietnam, the Middle East, Chile and Cuba and documented South Africa under apartheid, Magnum said.

He also documented life in Mexico over several years, and pursued a lifelong interest in religion and its intersection with society.

He returned to the country in 1997.

Abbas published several books, including a personal interpretation of Iranian history titled Iran Diary 1971-2002; Return to Mexico: Journeys Beyond the Mask (1992), Allah O Akbar: A Journey Through Militant Islam (1994), and In Whose Name?: The Islamic World after 9/11 (2009).

He has also published Faces of Christianity: A Photographic Journey (2000) and Gods I’ve Seen (2016), a book about Hinduism.

At the time of his death he had been working on a project about Judaism.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.

Recent Posts

Iranian president to fly to Baku to attend UN Climate Change Conference

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is going to Visit the Republic of Azerbaijan next week to…

7 hours ago

Tehran denies hiring Iranians in Israel to kill Zionist officials

Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations has flat-out rejected the Israeli regime’s allegation that…

9 hours ago

Pezeshkian says Iran’s missiles aimed at deterring aggressors, not unleashing war

Iran’s missiles are aimed at deterring those seeking to potentially target the country, and are…

9 hours ago

All hospitals in northern Gaza out of service: Report

Gaza’s Government Media Office has announced that all hospitals in northern Gaza are out of…

9 hours ago

Iran vows to employ ‘anything necessary’ for defense

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has stated that the Islamic Republic will definitely respond…

9 hours ago

Israel informs UN of decision to withdraw from deal with UNRWA

Israel has officially informed the United Nations of its decision to withdraw from an agreement…

13 hours ago