With the suicide of Prince Alireza of Iran, I thought I recollect my memories of his late father. I first saw the king when I was ten, he was visiting the city of Shiraz ( a major city in South West of Iran). We were sent by the schools to cheer his arrival and spent hours waiting then in a flash his car passed by. The highlight of that day was the policeman on a fatboy Harley Davidson trying to show off and slipped looking like a plonker in front of bunch of laughing school kids. The second encounter was a bit closer. He was visiting the Petro-Chemical plant in Bandar Shahpour ( now named Bandar Khomeini) and the big chief of the plant was our neighbor. The King’s Hercules Helicopter and a few smaller ones flew over with his entourage and landed on the Helipad which on a normal day was used as a play ground for our bicycle stunts. I even managed to get a peek inside the helicopter as the guy guarding it was friendly. That day I didn’t goto school and spent the day with a bunch of friends who just like me had skipped school. We went fruit picking to pass the time and managed to get a glimpse of the King. In a different location we tried to get close to the helicopters but this time the security guard was not so friendly and chased us with a big stick.

The digital image here that I created is part of a pop Art series which celebrates his golden age. It shows the last seasons when the King became isolated and desperate and eventually left the country.

Although I have always been a republican over the years I’ve grown to admire many qualities of the late King.

The rest of the series is on Flickr under the title: When Iran went pop