Remembering the dead

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
- Macbeth

O wine-bearer brighten my cup with the wine,
O minstrel say good fortune is now mine.
The face of my beloved is reflected in my cup,
Little you know why with wine, I always myself align.
Eternal is the one whose heart has awakened to Love,
This is how Eternal Records my life define.
- Hafez, Translation courtesy of Shahriar Shahriari.

The last Thursday of the Iranian year is a day of remembrance for loved ones who have passed away. The first photographs on this page were taken today, Thursday, March 18, 2010, at Beheshteh Zahra cemetery in Tehran. They are followed by photos of just some of the victims of the Islamic regime. No exhaustive list of the dead exists yet. In the mean time, I am publishing these portraits to represent all the victims, identified or anonymous. 

I have decided not to publish gory, blood-filled shots. They should be remembered as they appear here: smiling, radiant, full of hope, and alive.

Rest in peace.

grave of Ashkan Sohrabi, 18

grave of Sohrab Araabi, 19

grave of Neda Agha Soltan, 27

'The martyrs live on': handwritten on funeral service announcement