Iranian Visual Journalist Burns Protest Images as Act of Mourning After January Repression

Parisa Azadi, an Iranian-Canadian visual journalist and artist, began her project in September 2022 while in Dubai. She observed the uprising in Iran through videos shared on social media, which showed women burning hijabs, young men injured by pellets, and teenagers taken into vans.

Unable to return to Iran after six years of documenting life there, Azadi used open-source footage to create physical prints. Azadi photographed frames from these videos directly from her computer screen using a Fujifilm instax camera, which produces immediate prints.

This method aimed to convert digital images into tangible objects, building on her earlier practice in Iran of giving instant portraits to strangers as keepsakes. During the uprising, this approach adapted to address rebellion and censorship.

One image originates from a protest video in Tehran, depicting crowds around a street fire, holding hands and chanting against the state. The chant repurposed insults into defiance, according to Azadi. She captured the silhouette of a young woman with a ponytail against smoke and light, resulting in a grainy, pixelated print.

This style differs from Azadi's previous higher-resolution documentary work. It draws on the concept of the 'poor image' as a form of testimony, as described by German artist Hito Steyerl. The photograph is part of a series from protest fragments.

2026, following state massacres and executions in Iran, Azadi started burning the instax prints. The burning scarred the surfaces, reflecting the depicted violence. Azadi stated this act was a form of mourning to convey rage, grief, and refusal, rather than erasure.