Blank Pages of an Iranian Photo Album

Présentation de l'éditeur :

"La célèbre photographe iranienne Newsha Tavakolian mélange la création artistique et le photojournalisme, partant de l'album photo familial traditionnel iranien pour chroniquer habilement la vie quotidienne le la classe moyenne en suivant des iraniens de différentes générations avec son appareil photo. Elle n'esquive pas la complexité, l'inaccessibilité, et les quantités de contradictions qui composent son pays d'origine. Elle parvient à capturer une image complète de l'Iran contemporain."

Présentation par l'artiste :

"The family photo album is the showcase for my generation. The yellowed albums and the pictures of smiling children dressed up in their best clothes are testament to our hopes and dreams, but they end in blank pages, and the moment when our parents stopped taking our pictures […]

For me, Iran is the country where I was born. I went to school here, started my career, and never left. As a photographer I have always struggled with how to perceive my society, with all its complexities and misunderstandings. For this project, I have decided to continue the photo albums of my generation. To add the pictures that were never taken of the way that life is for them now, grownup.

I followed nine people who in a sense define this generation. They are interchangeable, thus representing many. This photo album is theirs; it is my vision of life in Iran now, unromantic and confined. Those who feature on the pages are interchangeable, placed randomly in the natural installation of what is and can be their daily lives.

I began by collecting some childhood snapshots from their own family albums. After that I took a series of pictures that show their lives today, like reportage. They are not necessarily present in these images, but the pictures illustrate the way they live in the four corners of the megalopolis that is Tehran.

I have brought them to a mountain overlooking Tehran, Iran’s capital […] In this messiness I have asked them to find their own space, even though it may not be much bigger than their own two feet. Contrary to all the other images, these nine portraits are staged.

Now, what matters to me is that this work communicates the feelings some have here in Iran. These images will not change anything, nor will they help anybody. What I hope is that they visualize a generation marginalized by those speaking in their name.

             --    Newsha Tavakolian  "

Edition français / anglais.

Newsha Tavakolian a reçu le Prix Carmignac 2014 pour ce travail.

160 pages - Couverture rigide toilée

Kehrer Verlag, 2015

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