Photography Articles

Translated to English by: Babak Rezaie

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A Review on Tehran Photography Exhibition 2006 - CPC/CAPA

Ali Reza Yazdani

Tehran, Iran, 2007

National Association of Photographic Art (NAPA) and Color Photographic Association of Canada (CPAC) merged in 1998, which led to establish The Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA). Masoud Soheili is the representative head of CAPA in the Middle East. He devoted a lot to expand his activities in the past few years. Numerous artists in various fields have been introduced in his website (www.Caroun.com). Shortly, he has focused on inviting photographers to CAPA. He managed to accept 130 new members for CAPA to link them overseas. Some of the members are admitted to International photography competitions in USA, China, Japan, England, The Netherlands… to show their works.

The First CPC/CAPA Exhibition-Competition was held from November 3 to 8 in Haft Samar Gallery in Tehran. The Jury were Ms. Maryam Zandi, Mr. Nasser Taqvai and Mr. Esmail Abbasi. Next year, the competition will be held in Tehran, and two years later in Canada with international Jury.

I failed to attend in the exhibition for some reasons, and see the works on walls; but later, I found them arranged side by side on the floor of his studio. I reviewed them on the monitor of my computer over and over, which resulted in the brief note you’re reading on.

Nima Nasseri depicts a tertiary picture of the underground train (metro). In the first photo, eyes track the whole points of picture thanks to the variety of optical elements and go out in the vanishing point. The top half of the dark space added more balance and has created an interesting form. The fast escape has reduced the surface of the left wall and has resulted interesting break, while it is transparent and did not blocked the scenes behind.

In the second photo, which the train I stopped, a lack of variety in space is overwhelming, as well as the closer space; so, after a short pause, eyes are drawn from front view of the train to the vanishing point very quickly. In the third photo, train, which is front more, has filled out the whole left half completely; our eyes could not find any tension to turn around the front spaces of the photo, and are drawn to the vanishing point terribly, because of the closed space. The artist put forth numerous faults by dividing the artwork into three.
Murat Germen, a Turkish artist, depicts two-dimensional people in solid black. The arrangement of bodies is dramatic; of course, it would be more excellent if the reflection of them turned out on the ground.

Mina Momeni presented a work titled “Dakhil”, cloth tied to a network with a fabulous motion. They look as if they’re not any more cloth, ascending to the sky like vapor and fume. Closed format and dark space at the back of “Dakhil” play an important role in revealing foreground.
Batool Mokhtary depicts a man, with his bared arm that generates an intense contrast in color, form and concept against the woman’s veil and low-key colors of the picture, while he’s held black umbrella over the head of the woman.

Azin Rad dominates green values of shades enormously by exposing light over broken pieces of glass. Red color with the dominant green could turn into a potent and fascinating expression, if it wouldn’t be combined with green values. Fundamentally, arrangement of her composition for photography is not eye-catching.

The masks, photographed by Homeira Yaseri, carried great composition with predefined and strong structure. It seems everything is applied for expressing deep lull and silence.
Amir Saeed Gorji’s work is a look over the earth from the sky. A pile of vapor blurred some part of the scene down. But huge chimneys in the middle of the picture, with good arrangement, drawn our attention towards them. The chimneys, standing up in the green field, imply threat by no harmonious form and color.

”Expectation” is a work by Ardalan Ghahari. The Square frame of “Dakhil”, in the center, attracts our view, while twisted old man’s head and his anxious eyes distract us out through the format.

Athena Hajai-zadeh’s “Starlings” presents Imam-zadeh mausoleum, in the midst of the picture. It seems it’s far away in the desert. Thousands of starlings fly in a waving manner over the mausoleum created a colorful life.

Daniel Soheili depicts an incredibly scene of some cloud, shaping something like a cap, over a mountaintop. Every visitor wonders if it’s natural or artificial.

The “View”, which Guity Shojai has selected for her shooting, starts from green in the foreground and extends into a soft deep gradient ascending. In the top first third of the picture, earth changes its form, creating red and dark green. Another hill, in the far left, breaks the continuity of the horizon. Then at the top end of the picture, The eyes of the visitor experience the open blue space of the sky; later, after a view-break, it creates a tension to return to curves and dramatic colors of the earth.

Hassan SarBakhshian has shot the view of a flood. You can imagine the severity of the disaster taken place in the limited space of this frame.

Mohammad Hossein NikoPour shows a landscape, in which a guy sitting on a chair, with a dog by him, back to us, as if they have a common sense looking deep into farther horizon. The distance of the far scene to us and tree trunks, branches, foliage and the sky showing through them, causes our eyes to move from the main subject to other parts of the picture, then back to the subject again after a short pause.

Nahal Chizari carries the most delicate sense, by which every visitor gets attached strongly. Her picture an eye-catching highlight and shadow, soft arcs and fabulous color harmony. Eyes never stop at any point of the picture. Eyes move along the gradient and curve quietly and never gets tired. The foreground slopes are softened by the next horizontal layers. Upper surfaces of the topper branch, which reflects the maximum light, are more attractive in the same layer. The photo tells us of the dominant beauty in each pictorial element: color, texture, light… Its whole structure makes this photo on a high level of beauty. It implies deep, sensitive, innovative and experienced insight of the artist.

Saeed Dehghani shows the boundary between the sea and the coast. From the right, the blue color of the water has filled out the concaves and wrinkled of the coast. From the left ochre and brown colors of the coast surrounded the seaside water has formed it. Choice of the portrait format and upper view are important parameters in this photo.

Another interesting shoot belongs to Seyed Reza Hashemi, a B&W one. The view of soaked birds in the rain, perching along the power lines in 3 rows, side by side, the photographer has shot from the bottom view. The composition of the birds on black cables reminds us of musical notes. It creates an exciting music in our mind. Our view passes from the flock of birds and goes away into the sky with an imaginary music.


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