AIDA Nederland

Second Report September 2005

0. Formal Details

Title of activity: Bam Photographic Rescue Project
Reference for the project is: Parisa Damandan (Tehran)
The project will be hosted in Holland by AIDA Nederland (Herman Divendal)
All finances will cross giro-account 5965559, the account of "AIDA Nederland"

1. Introduction

July 2004 has been sent first report, reporting Bam-project period first half of the year 2004. The report has been mentioned as first stage January-March 2004, safeguarding five archives of photo studios in Bam, finding a temporary place for them in Kerman and later in Tehran. Taking photographs has made documentation of the project. Making a documentary film about the project which should be edited. Unfortunately filmmaker Reza doesn’t have money for editing.
I have found AIDA as host for the project. AIDA started up campaigning and finding funds for supporting the project. On demand of AIDA I made a small selection of the digged up photos for different purposes.
Second stage, April 2004, has been a short trip to Amsterdam. I have made a projectplan in close co-operation with AIDA Nederland (Herman Divendal) and Nederlands Fotomuseum (Hans de Herder), finding agreements about securing the project by AIDA, making bookkeeping system.
In between I have found time to focus attention to media in the Netherlands, and to meet Dutch documentary filmmaker Aliona van der Horst about her planning to shoot a documentary of the "Photographs of Bam".
Main important goal of this short trip has been to have had meetings with AIDA and Nederlands Fotomuseum exchanging strategies for conserving, restoring and archiving the Bam-negatives, making selection for necessary materials for archiving the studios, etceteras.
In May and June 2004, making trips to Kerman for the renewing of the boxes with materials of the studios. I found time cleaning the archives of two studios so that we could give them back to the photographers of Bam, who personally survived, and could open their shops, some months after the earthquake.
During my stay I have spent time to build up a double network. One network has been meetings and exchanges with people like Kerman and Bam Islamic Guidance Officers. The other network has been creating a team both for assisting the archiving of the Bam-materials, as offering an internal crew for the logistic assistance to Aliona van der Horst´s crew for filming in Iran.
So far first period of the Bam Photographic Rescue Project.

2. Second Stage: July 2004 – January 2005

Different steps of the Bam Photographic Rescue Project for this second stage have been:
1. We have cleaned Shiva studio archive as much as possible in order to make several photo albums, showing them to people to identify the people in the photos.
2. We have met with some families of Bam looking for the old photographs in family albums, scanning what could be found.
3. We Helped Aliona during her stay in Iran for her film, going with her to Bam, making photo albums of snapshots.
4. We have made 7 trips in total to Bam and Kerman, providing views how to continue the work about the photographs of Bam.
5. We were present as team in the day of anniversary of the earthquake. We had printed 1000 announcements and have given them to people in the graveyard, together with 600 white flowers. We asked their ideas about a memorial wall and interviewed them about the dead families.
Some issues will be detailed now.

2.1. Cleaning the archive of Shiva Studio

We started cleaning the archive of Shiva studio, changing the old boxes to new smaller ones, cleaning the sands out of the negative envelopes and at the same time making a selection. Shiva studio is the symbolic one for me, the one I have chosen as a studio, both ruined and the photographer is dead.
We are cleaning in same period as, now in Bam, people are cleaning the city from the trashes of houses and buildings. The steal dealers are moving in the city, gathering and buying the steal of ruined houses. After the city is cleaned and nothing left to mention them the disaster, there should remain something. A reminder.

2.2. Recognizing people in the photos

For all purposes will be needed to know if the portraits of the photographs are persons who died during the earthquake, or what will be the other stories behind the images.
Together with Maryam we made a selection of them, making prints of the pictures. We made three big albums full of formal portraits among the Shiva collection, so that people could watch them and recognize their friends and relatives. Different people watched the albums, drivers, hotel waitresses, some members of the city committee. I feel these albums are enormously interesting for people. They watch them very carefully, they pay attention to find a person in the photographs, someone they have met even once in the street, a familiar face, just that, a familiar face from Bam, before earthquake, when the city was like what it was. Each one writes the name of the person who recognizes, if he or she is alive or dead on the backside of the paper. Different hand scripts gathers in the albums.

2.3. The Documentary film of Aliona van der Horst

Aliona van der Horst came to Tehran in September 2004, with Nafis Nia as interpreter. First two days she could see the archives. Making a selection of snapshots, she could better exchange with the people of Bam who survived.
During first days I have introduced her to my ‘team’, especially to Maryam (option for a ‘back-up’ interpreter) and to Bahram, as a local producer in Iran.
I have arranged for Aliona van der Horst to stay four days at the Film festival in Kerman, the best way to learn to know the ‘officials’ in the area around Bam. During the festival she could show her documentary film about the Hermitage of St. Petersburg.
Aliona van der Horst about the film festival in Kerman:
"They show my film ‘Hermitage’. I ask them, if someone has a question. People have a lot of questions. We have a very nice exchange. People really want to know how I did shoot the films, what’s my opinion about their films, and how I feel myself uncomfortable being in Iran without my family. I have to admit that I get more satisfied by this small festival, then, for example, IDFA Festival in Amsterdam. I perceive, how hungry everyone desires information, wishes contact, likes exchanges."
After the festival she started to get her first impressions in Bam:
"The whole day Bam is in my mind. Bahram, Maryam and Parisa, they feel the same. Having seen Bam once, your mind undoubtedly will be affected with this place forever. Bam forever will be symbol for something.
I don’t know how the people of Bam watch us. Are we seen as snoopers? Slowly I recognise that we are highly welcomed. I even start to shoot some now and then. People serve grapes, cookies, and dates. This is their way for mourning the dead people and offering something to everyone. The sound impressed me the most. All the time you get heard the crying of some person, at your left hand, then at your right hand, as if the one person passes on his sound to one other one. I can’t take that crying anymore and start crying myself too."
Aliona has spent her time very hard for learning to know the people of Bam, doing her research for the script of her documentary, meeting and finding the right persons as ‘model’ for her documentary. She has visited Bam three times.
Having prepared all for the shooting itself, Aliona has been stopped at the border of the airport in Tehran and has been sent back to Holland. Three days before she was sent back, the whole crew had entered Iran already. The crew followed Aliona’s decision that the crew anyhow should leave for Bam and start shooting. They were able to work with Aliona’s detailed script and instructions and orders by telephone.
This month, September, the montage of the documentary (80 minutes) will be finished. The film will be presented in November 2005.

2.4. Publishing a book of Photographs from the People of Bam

The archives that we have digged up contains materials from three studios, since two studios have been given back. The negatives need to be archived in some way, before finding the right way to deepen the signification of the photographs and the stories behind the photographs.
Making a book will be one level for giving the history of the people from Bam back to those who survived from the earthquake. One even might think about two versions of a book, using same photographs but different introduction and a variety of texts: one book for the people in Bam, and one to all people who have human interest.

2.5. Giving back the archives to Bam

The archives of two photo studios have been given back to their owners.
One might think to exchange with them or other persons to create a new and open building: Photostudio Museum of Bam before the Earthquake.
In this Museum of Memories all photo-materials that has been found under earth in this museum can get a place. People will be allowed to order photocopies and exhibitions can be organized.
Each option that will open the archive, need professional technical equipment (computer, scanner, printer, digital camera, professional soft ware).

2.6. Memorial Wall(Monument)

I made a proposal when I was in Bam to introduce the Memorial Photo Wall as a reminder of the earthquake, a symbol of the horrible disaster of 26 December to the City Committee. Once a week, the most important head officials of Bam, come to meet each other and discuss matters in this committee. They let me talk about my proposal and the necessity of building the wall.
I spend enough time in Bam to walk in the grave yard or sitting quiet for hours there to find a good place for the wall to have enough sight for people where ever they are standing in the grave yard. It is a simple construction not very complicated but I think it takes some months to make the wall and sure we need time for producing the prints.
Next step has been to start complicated official works and meeting people and governmental committees. I started this process of getting the permissions in Tehran and wanted to see if they should financially contribute to it or not. The City Committee of Bam, directly through the head of the committee has voted for the proposal! But having their votes will not say that they pay for it or just they give a peace of land to me in the graveyard. I also had meetings with different architects about the wall and real ideas on construction and the materials and how to draw a factual map to show all the dimensions and sizes. One of them accepted to assist in his office in Tehran. I have had a meeting with Bahram Shirdel, the architect who is supposed to design the wall.
I could ask for the permission of Mayor of Bam to officially register a piece of ground in the graveyard of the city so that I can start the construction of the wall. It is an empty ground and it seems strange to see such an empty space between the graves. The head of the graveyard told me that the ground I have chosen to build the wall is in fact a group grave of people that are unknown so no one has put any stone there.
One other outstanding question will be how the prints can be made to be permanent against such a bright sun for years, the sun of desert, the temperature which goes up to even 50 centigrade in summer and winds that carry sand? To find information, I made contact with Alliance Company (ceramic steel products) in Belgium.

2.7. Anniversary

We did a team work in the day of the anniversary of the earthquake. We printed 1000 announcements and gave them to people in the graveyard together with 600 white flowers. We asked them for their ideas about the coming of a memorial wall and asking some questions if they have the photographs of their dead ones and if they like to borrow their photos to us for a while to use them in such a monument and so on.
I have received several envelopes until now consisting the positive ideas of people, their prayers for us to be successful in our way and that they like to help us, some even have sent photographs.

2.8. Archiving – next step

April 2004 I have had my first meeting with Hans de Herder, Head Conservation Department of Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, accompanied by Herman Divendal (AIDA). Nederlands Fotomuseum sympathised very much with the idea of the project and promised to help the project with their professional knowledge of archiving and conserving photos and negatives, to buy the necessary materials for the project all related to the cleaning and conserving of photographic materials.
First step has been to list all necessary materials, like film cleaners and brushes, vinyl gloves and boxes for the different sizes of negatives and photographs, and all other materials to do the job proper and well. Nederlands Fotomuseum has spent a lot of time to gather the materials, to put them in boxes. Gathering the right materials has taken more than half a year. Also to arrange the boxes has been a frustrating job. Hans de Herder prepared the packing lists for the shipment. Nederlands Fotomuseum has taken care of the transport from Rotterdam to Schiphol airport. Assistance in the transport has been found by the embassy of Iran in Den Haag. May 2005 all materials arrived. I did my payments and work to get them free from customs.
The expenses of the boxes with all materials have been ± € 9.000,00. The expenses of the shipment and the various other transport costs have been ± € 3.500,00.
With these ‘magic boxes’ from Holland I have fully started my job to clean and file the archives.
After the process of cleaning the dirty negatives and photographs and putting them in the clean sleeves and in the albums, I can better watch them and make my selection of photographs for any purpose.

3.0. Stage three – Opening up of the Bam Photographic Archive

Not having count the numerous time of work by my team and myself all costs until now are count to ± € 18450,00.
Next step for the Bam Photographic Rescue Project will be the opening up of the Bam Photographic Archive.
For the opening up of the archive we will need to have professional way of archiving through computer, scanning, archive-data-system and so on.
Both for these hardware-materials as for starting up either Book, or Memorial Wall or any other solution, on the date of this report remains a profit of ± € 7500,00.

In between lines of Bam Project -

· November 2004 editorial Saqi Books London published with Prince Claus Fund as co-publisher my book "Portrait Photographs from Isfahan: Faces in Transition, 1920-1950". I still feel the need to present a selection as an exhibition, both in Iran and in a country outside.

· I tried to gain success for cooperation trough British Council in Tehran, but they simply told me that it is out of their responsibility. So I turned toward searching for exhibition places in Tehran.

· Last year I have produced two books in Iran, the translation of "Another way of telling" by John Berger, and the book of Ernst Hoeltzer, German telegraph engineer and photographer in Isfahan, 19th century. Hoeltzers book has been published by the Organization of Preserving Cultural Heritage in Iran (a governmental organization, that has denied my rights as author until this moment!)

· I had a trip to Isfahan, working on one of those endangered photo portrait archives of Isfahan. It belongs to the wife of a very famous Ispahani photographer, Aman ol Lahe Tarighi, the same period almost after the industrialization. I watched a huge amount of glass plates and mostly gelatin negatives and photos, even the photo studios equipment’s. It will need days and days watching in silence. His wife has asked me to work on a photo book about his husband this year.

· Last year photographer and filmmaker and friend Mohamad Reza Shariffi died. His relatives asked me to help them with preserving and archiving his collection. It is more than 7 boxes full of negatives and slides. I have promised to make the archive in order and classify them and make a selection. A well known center in Iran is going to publish a photo book of his works together with an exhibition. It seems that I need more than two hands for all these jobs now!

· I also heard about the death of Vahan, the Isfahani photographer who was 85 years old, I have written about him in the foreword of the Saqi Book. I’m wondering if I should make a ‘Home for Archives’, maybe a non-governmental "Center for Gathering and Preserving Endangered Archives". The Center should make research and present the result by making books, CDs, videos, exhibitions, organizing workshops and so on. The idea can be compared by the Arab Image Foundation that has same role for Arab countries. Last year I visited this Foundation in Lebanon.

· Last August and September, I have been busy with one of the programs of British Library in Iran, "Endangered Archives Program". This pilot project aims to identify photographic material and/or archives from the pre-modernization period in Iran, and search to investigate the possibility of save guarding such endangered materials.

Zibadasht, 11 September 2005
Parisa Damandan