Men Burning a Portrait of the Shah, Tehran, 1978
Gelatin silver print, Courtesy of Magnum Photos, New York

"Tehran, December 31, 1978 … Shahpour Bakhtiar is sworn in as Prime Minister, and rumours about the Shah's departure abroad start again. My journalist friend Safa and I decide that the best source to confirm or deny these rumours is the Shah himself and call at the Niavaran Palace. I shall never forget the faces of the Imperial Guards when we ask to see the Shah!  Faces reflect their concern—madmen can be dangerous—their desire to arrest us here and then, and a repressed hearty laugh. Nonetheless, they check with the Shah's secretariat: no, His Majesty does not wish to see us."