Photographs of Iranians Visiting the Fronts of Iran-Iraq War

Shade of Earth

This incredible image is by Abbas Kowsa and comes from his series Shade of Earth: 2007-8 which documents  some of the "hundreds of thousands of Iranians visit the fronts of the Iran -Iraq war (1980-1988) during their New Year (Noruz) holiday...

The pilgrims, often family members of those who died, travel with buses from all over the country to visit the places where the fighting was the heaviest. Iran lost over half a million soldiers during the eight year trench war with neighbouring Iraq."

The photograph and another from the series are currently are view at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin in an exhibition of works shortlisted for the Prix Pictet award.