Enghelab Street
No Fake News Here
This dazzling large-format volume of research into book publishing in Iran during the turbulent and pivotal years from 1979 to 1983 is a clearly designed, coherent and very beautiful archive book that is also a fine example of artistic research. The first section of plates in four colours presents some 40 photo books on political subjects in a uniform layout with details of their contents, large facsimiles of the front and back covers, and double pages reduced in size.
This is followed by a section printed in violet containing some 100 propaganda books, most of which are presented four to a page with images of their covers. In the final section of over one hundred highgloss pages, the researcher combines excerpts from the photo books with her own photographs of Iran today, each printed on a whole page. In between the three plate sections are a few pages of text in a two-column layout featuring essays, interviews with contemporary witnesses and a chronology. The pared-back design is modern and independent of the material presented, allowing the particular characteristics of the diverse publications to come through and ensuring that, for all its size, the volume always has surprises in store. The result is a strong statement about the necessity and political importance of books in an age of digital fake news.
