Moises Saman: The Ghosts of History

A new solo exhibition examines the conflicting narratives central to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, the aftermath, and the limits of documentary photography in reporting on a war—one still ongoing for many Iraqis.

“Who has the power to narrate a conflict? Who determines the parameters of the frame? Which crimes or victims will be visible, and at the expense of what?” asks Magnum photographer, Moises Saman. “Who and what will be remembered and how?”

From October 25 to December 14, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery at Haverford College in Pennsylvania presents a selection of more than 40 prints by Saman, as well as a new video work commissioned by the gallery. The Ghosts of History highlights the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq by exploring the construction of competing narratives of war through the interaction of images and language.

The exhibition draws from Saman’s photographs taken in Iraq over the past two decades and is interspersed with US military maps and charts, lists of Iraqi dead, redacted transcripts, satellite images, quotes and pop culture references all tied to the war in Iraq. The pairing of Saman’s images with these materials exposes the dissonance between the photographer’s portrayal of war and official rhetoric, raising deeper questions about how narratives are crafted in war and how memory is shaped.

Through this interplay of image and language, Saman draws attention to what American philosopher Judith Butler has called “the framing of the frame.” That is, the political and social biases that govern the act of “bringing an image into focus on condition that some portion of the visual field is ruled out.” The intention of the exhibition is not to create an objective account, but to invite viewers to actively and critically engage with all narrative frames, including Saman’s, who grapples with his own role, bias, and power as a narrator. Some of the frames the work contends with are courtesy of state power, the kind of frames that determine “which lives count as human and living, and which do not.”

An extension of Saman’s book Glad Tidings of Benevolence from 2023, The Ghosts of History exhibition is titled after the book’s introductory essay by Iraqi poet, novelist, scholar, and literary translator Sinan Antoon. There will be a talk with Moises Saman and Sinan Antoon followed by a reception on Thursday, November 14, from 4:30–7pm EDT, at the Whitehead Campus Center at Haverford College. For more exhibition information visit here.

The Ghosts of History is a traveling exhibition organized by Magnum Photos in collaboration with the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery. Support for the exhibition has been provided by Haverford’s John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities, Magnum Photos, and Haverford College’s Distinguished Visitors Program.

Contact: Matthew Seamus Callinan, mcallina [​at​] haverford.edu.

About the artist
Moises Saman was born in Lima, Peru, in 1974 to a mixed Spanish and Peruvian family. Saman blends traditional conflict photography with a deeply personal point of view. For more than 10 years, he has been concerned with the humanitarian impact of war in the Middle East, documenting both the front line of daily suffering and the “fleeting moments on the periphery of the more dramatic events.”

​Saman’s work has received awards from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year and the Overseas Press Club, and his photographs have been shown in several exhibitions worldwide. In 2015, he was given the highly regarded Guggenheim Fellowship for his photojournalism project on the Arab Spring. In 2023, Saman was named a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and he published Glad Tidings of Benevolence, a book that combines photographs and disparate documentation and texts from his time as a photojournalist covering the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq and the years following.

Saman joined Magnum Photos in 2010 and became a full member in 2014. He is currently based in Amman, Jordan.