Over the next week, we will be profiling some of the photographers whose work appears in the book, and reflecting on how their images contribute to its power, texture and witness.
We would particularly like to thank the IRNA news agency, which generously donated almost two thirds of the photographs used in the publication. We are also deeply grateful to the many individual photographers whose work has helped make the book such an exceptional production:
Ahmad Moeini Jam, Akbar Tavakkoli, Ali Sharifi, Bahram Bayat, Eshaq Aghaei, Mahmoud Farjami, Maryam Al Momen Dehkordi, Marzieh Mousavi, Marzieh Pourarab, Marzieh Soleimani, Mohammad Mahdi Pourarab, Mohammadrasoul Moradi, Mohsen Rezaei, Sadegh Miri and Sadra Nouri.
We continue with the work of Ahmad Moeini Jam.
A Broken Bridge, a Bloodstained Sizdah Bedar
At midday on Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of the Persian New Year holidays, the sky over Karaj was clear and blue. Around Bridge B1 on the city’s northern bypass, families had gathered to spend the day outdoors. Some were sitting on the nearby slopes, others had spread picnic blankets, and children were playing in the open spaces beneath and around the bridge. A few hours later, the scene had changed completely.
In the photograph, part of the bridge has collapsed. Massive concrete beams are broken, and large pieces of concrete and metal lie scattered across the ground. Steel cables and structural elements have been damaged, while signs of fire and explosion are visible throughout the site. Beneath the bridge, where families had spent the holiday only hours before, there are now only traces of destruction and confusion.
The attack caught many people by surprise. Those in the area rushed to leave the scene. Items brought for a day of recreation were left behind—blankets, containers, and personal belongings that had been part of an ordinary holiday gathering but now lay among the debris.
In the background, the city of Karaj and the surrounding dry hills can be seen. In the foreground stands a structure that once carried thousands of people each day but is now severely damaged and partially collapsed.
The power of this image lies in the contrast it captures: a public holiday associated with nature, family gatherings, and leisure, set against the aftermath of destruction. More than a photograph of a bridge, it is a photograph of people whose ordinary day was suddenly interrupted by an event that transformed the landscape around them.
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