Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran
University of Southern Maine Art Galleries
Area Gallery, Portland Campus
35 Bedford Street
Portland, Maine
Gorham Campus Center
A figure clothed in black paces back and forth in shin-deep snow,
fruitlessly seeking protection under a flimsy umbrella.
Others pass this way and that, daring the elements. Our figure
continues to wait — as do we — and the snow continues to fall,
relentless, whipping and whirling in barren streets smothered in
white. All we hear is the endless, eerie howling of the harsh wind.
This several-minute-long video, “The White Station,” shot by
Seifollah Samadian from the vantage point of an overlooking
window, offers a completely unexpected view of Iran.
“Persian Visions” is the first contemporary Iranian photography
to be displayed in the U.S., offering a view from insideout
— rather than outside-in, such as Gilles Peress’ acclaimed
“Telex Iran” — of a country considered by many in the west as
once grand and opulent, now conflicted, exotic, foreign. Through
its range of stark, abstract, cerebral and bold images, it strives
to dispel these perceptions by presenting universal sensibilities
while also offering commentary on modern life in a country with
origins dating back 4,800 years.
For instance, take Esmail Abbasi’s “Generous Butcher,” which
juxtaposes an antique-colored illustration of a classic Muslim
story with a black-and-white close-up of a pencil snapped in half.
As the story goes, a butcher sells tainted meats, then breaks
his arm, only to have it healed by Imam Ali, a close relative of
prophet Muhammad. The images side-by-side create a metaphor
for freedom of expression in modern Iran, questioning who could
restore it, and how.
Sadegh Tirafkan’s “Persepolis” also wrestles with the
country’s tortured identity. Set against the ruins of the oncegreat
capital of the ancient Achaemenid Empire, a man walks
one way and back again across two screens. In both, all we hear
is the incessant crunch of shoes on gravel.
Sandwiched between the screens, two still photos show
the same man standing still against the backdrop of the ruins,
passers-by moving in a blur. Persepolis is a World Heritage Site
and a major tourist attraction, and the artist implies that Iran’s
identity is forever linked with the grandeur of its past.
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