Augenblick, Profile : Sanaz Mazinani

I have posted already 6 different photographers from Iran, a country which I would like to travel and know more. Today I will present Sanaz Mazinani which has done different projects among one focussing on her mother land called Iran Revisited from which I took the cover photo of this post.

Profile : Mitra Tabrizian

I am interested in Iranian photography and i have posted what I could find so far but some nice person from Tehran gave me some names to look for and I am very happy to share it in my blog. Today I would recommend to look at Mitra Tabrizian work, is another example of sensibility from an inside view of this beautiful country. I do like projects like Tehran, West Suburb and Wall house.

Books : Children of Abraham

Children of Abraham.
In a moment of important and tragic events in china which also dont allow me to post regularly in this blog (as you aware blogspost as well many other popular sites has been closed down by Chinese Authority) I would like to introduce a book of reportage

by Magnum Photographer Abbas, the book tell more about the wide community of Muslim, a travelogue which also crossed the region of Xinjiang where chinese and muslim are in an hard and violent confrontation. Is a popular book which does not need

extra coverage but i thought was useful to remind as important book to understand the complexity of the Islamic world. Here a note from the publisher
Publisher's Description
Invited by the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo to unfold a striking exhibition, Abbas gathers his work on the three monotheistic religions for the first time in its catalogue, with written extracts from his travel diaries.
From 1978 to 1980, Abbas covered the Iranian Revolution. Later, from Xinjiang to Morocco, from London to Timbuktu, he photographed the daily lives of Muslims, the rituals of their faith, and witnessed the emergence of some more radical voices. Driven by a desire to understand the internal tensions at work within Muslim societies, he exposed the conflict between a rising political ideology looking for inspiration in a mythical past and the universal desire for modernity and democracy. From 1995 to 2000, Abbas photographed Christian communities throughout the world with the same critical eye. On both journeys, he also recorded the lives of Jewish communities. Heralding the dawn of the "Third Millennium," the year 2000 seemed to impose itself as the universal calendar, and therefore a symbol of Western civilization. That year, Jews celebrated the year 5760 and Muslims the year 1420. Abraham—"the first Jew"—is also claimed as a common ancestor by Christians and Muslims.

Editions Intervalles, Paris, 2007. 240 pp., 140 b&w illustrations, 6¾x9".

Profile : Newsha Tavakolian

Continuing my posting on Iranian female photographer , and in particular to show the hidden face of Iran which is now trying to come out in the protest on the aftermath of the election, I am presenting the work of Newsha Tavakolian which has ( comparing to Gohar Dashti or Shadi Ghadirian ) a more photojournalist impact. En fact Newsha Tavakolian has worked for international media covering current affairs and traveling outside he country. Her web page is a showcase of different reportages . I choose a photo from this project on plastic surgery which is widely spread in capital city of Teheran.

Profile : Hamila Vakili

Another interesting photographer from Iran : Hamila Vakili, again another female artist which has worked in some concept topics, I personally like the series from Stamps from which I choice the photo of this post's cover.
Hamila Vakili was born in 1979 in Tehran where now she lives. She graduated with a B.A. in Photography from the University of Tehran. Between 2001 and 2007 she has exhibited both in Iran and abroad, including the exhibitions '30 years of Solitude' at Cambridge University and the 'The veiled Mirror' at the De Santos Gallery, Houston, Texas. She also took part in 'Ey Iran', an exhibition of contemporary Iranian photography at the Gold Coast city Art Gallery, Australia. The Silk Road Gallery presented her works in 2004 at Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris and in 2007 at Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris.

Profile : Gohar Dashti

Presenting another Iranian female photographer Gohar Dashti after my earlier post on Shadi Gadhirian . Even if both photographers working in different style have a common eye to report the post-war generation showing the fragile world seen from the woman's angle. Here a note of his work which I liked a lot:
Iranian photographer Gohar Dashti was born in 1980 after the Islamic Revolution. Her photographs reflect a post-war generation couple in Iran who are symbolic of the times. Because the Revolution never resolved issues of social poverty and the ensuing war with Iraq derailed their social prospects, this was a time of isolation and unprecedented despair. Dashti’s generation has inherited the legacy of war and continues to be entangled in the memories and related realities. Her photographs represent this heritage of violence and how it permeates all aspects of contemporary society by depicting a couple in a fictionalized battlefield as they interact with the everyday—for instance, watching television, surfing on the Internet, or celebrating a wedding. While her couple does not visibly express emotion, the pair nevertheless has a sense of perseverance, determination and survival. Dashti creates moments that capture the irony and ongoing duality of life and war without precluding the possibility of hope.

Profile : Shadi Ghadirian

Shadi Ghadirian is an Iranian photographer working in topics which involved the fragile and exploited female conditions in her country. The photos are also ironical and showcased in different styles focusing on portraits of woman and still life done inside rooms where is possible to feel the intimancy of the female world. I admire her work as a great contribution from a beautiful and undisclosed country such as Iran. She has worked in three different project which are Qajar, Like Every Day and Nil . I do like the three project although done in different style in particular Like Every Day has an interesting concept. For the cover of this post i choose one photo from the Qajar series.