A Barthesian analysis of significant figures in contemporary history of Iran

This study is an attempt at examining staged photography series “By an Eye witness” by Azadeh Akhlaghi. In these photos, historical events were reconstructed by staged photography and a reflection of the photographer's attitude towards the moments of death, murder, and burial of the people who made turning points in the contemporary history of Iran could be observed. In this series two types of narratives are retrievable: every frame which narrates the death or murder of a person or a group of people, and the narrative which is produced as the mind of the viewer is vacillating from one photo to another. To examine this series, Roland Barthes's theories in S/Z and Camera Lucida were used. Among Barthes’ five codes, Proairetic and Hermeneutic were utilized to comprehend the photographer's attitude and symbolic, cultural, and semic codes were used for interpretations of the viewer. Later on, Barthes added accreditation code; the codes that let the artist present his piece like a reality. In all photos, a considerable attention was devoted to redefinition of particular moments related to the photograph's choice; using this view breaks the codes and analyzes the sampled photos. The viewer experiences the narratives through moving from one photo to another and becomes the interpreter of the photos. This article shows that the series of photos is between writerly and readerly texts. On one hand, the photographer tries to narrate the historical events as it is and leaves no room for the viewer's interpretation and on the other hand, the viewer comes to a narrative reading as he sees the sequence of the photos, so goes beyond the photo. By means of Barthes's codes, it can be concluded that “By an eye witness” series change to a writerly text, a text which consciously and indiscriminately depends on the viewer's impression and sense making.