Ripple effect (2024)

The diver plunges into the sea (death), but also into life (eternity), where he will rediscover the primordial waters of life. This quote from Pierre Lévêque about the illustrations in Tomb of the Diver resonated when I watched the viral video of a young man who was executed in Iran in 2020. A few days after his death, the grainy mobile video of him was released. He ran in slow motion and dove into a pool. Like an act of preservation, I filmed the video with a super 8 camera. The camera became a tool of magnifying and grieving. Three years later, men and women still chanted his name in protests. Like the waves after a dive, injustice has a ripple effect. (Niyaz Saghari)