‘IRAN. Shahr Rey. 1997. Four seater motorbike’ Iran – Famous for his sheer aesthetic intellect, rational sense of work and a “black and white” style of photography, internationally acclaimed Magnum photographer Abbas is an effortless and a skilled photographer/ writer, well recognised by the photography fraternity in the world. He dedicated his life in covering the social, economic lives of areas and people in conflict throughout the world. He has covered wars and revolutions in Biafra, Bangladesh, Northern Ireland, Vietnam, the Middle East, Chile, Cuba, and South Africa during the apartheid. He is currently working on his next project that covers Hinduism. Recently, Abbas was in Mumbai to shoot the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. Exclusively for Emaho, Mumbai-based photojournalist and curator of Mumbai’s Piramal Art Gallery (NCPA), Mukesh Parpiani invited the Magnum stalwart for quick one on one. Emaho : In a career spanning five decades, you’ve documented people, cultures, and major geo-political events across the globe but your work includes a lot of Indian street candids. What grips you to this country? I like India because it’s very easy to work here (on the street). Everybody loves photography. But here’s the flip side, the moment someone sees you with a camera, chants of ‘take my picture, take my picture’ follow. They just want to be photographed. Maybe this is the influence of Bollywood (chuckles). Nonetheless, this can be dealt with simply by refraining them instead of encouraging them. ‘IRAN. Tehran. 1979. Darvazh Ghar district. Behesht Zahra cemetery. A family on the 40th day of mourning for a militia man, considered a “martyr of the Revolution”. He was accidentally killed by a friend of his while manning a gun’ Emaho : One of your major bodies of work includes the revolution of Iran and the transition of Iran from the rule of the Shah to Khomeini’s takeover. Your book- iranDiary is a critical interpretation of this milestone in geopolitical history. And in the wake of recent events concerning Islam, your book has been in the news from time to time as a reference piece… Unfortunately (grins) Emaho : Why would you say that? Because look what’s happening now; jihadis all over the world are giving Islam a bad name. (Referring to the phenomenon of Islam being generalized over the …