mehdivosoughnia.com © 2016 | Design: Studioheh.com | Web Development: Farhad Mantegh
mehdivosoughnia.com © 2016 | Design: Studioheh.com | Web Development: Farhad Mantegh
Mehdi Vosoughnia
Born in 1971, Qazvin, Iran.
Education:
Publications:
Activities:
Honors:
Solo Exhibition :
Group exhibition :
At home
Tehran 2020-2021
These photos are a view into the confined and personal environment of home which has been and still is part of my enthusiasm for seeing, as well as for photographing. This time, however, after the outbreak of covid-19, the compulsory home stay and the consequent depression, photographing from this environment has transformed into visual exploration of the environment to find a small and sometimes blind peephole to the outside world.
Pamenar
Tehran 2013-2014
This is Pamenar, a historical neighborhood as old as the city of Tehran, dating back to the Safavid (18th century).Walking the neighborhood, in an area that at some point was considered the heart of old Tehran, I beheld forms and colors — manifesting themselves on doors, walls, and passageways — to reached empty spaces that, more than anything else, connected me to a “past and present”. The radical transformations that have made Pamenar what it is today are part of a history that meets the eye at an angle in its strange incongruity.
***
The Pamenar Collection is part of an ongoing series on various cityscapes of Iran. These photographs were taken over a two-year period (2013-2014) on holidays.
Anzali
2012-2014
That place is Anzali; a port city in the margins of the Caspian Sea. Somehow when I saw this city, I discovered myself in it; though I was not even born there. As I wandered around constantly in different days and seasons, I found it a lonely city. I saw the city in rainy days, looked at the people closely and even watched it keenly in its reckless silence. Once I focused accurately on this geographic site, and as I encountered certain issues and faced the existing elements in the city, I came across a rather unconventional conversation; I encountered decay and dampness in addition to grayish and gloomy people. I then realized that the body of this city, including the architecture, buildings, benches, alleys, streets, shops, docks and the beaches speak for what is called Anzali way beyond the words spoken by the people.
For me the metal bridge, the Qazian bridge, the Lagoon, the Boulevard, the GhalamGoodeh Island, the Mianposhteh Island are graphic haikus in the seasons when there is no tourist around.
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The “Anzali” collection is a sequel to the photos I have taken from the cities, places and other landscapes of my country, Iran, which has had my eyes fixed on it during the recent years. The collection of the photos presented in this book was photographed within two years (2012-2014) through my trips, while each trip took two to three days.
Grand Hotel
Qazvin, 2009
Even in the possibility of being, in this place that one day was one of the luxurious hotels of Iran I face desolate and soulless rooms.
Room number 16… room number 8… room number…
Anywhere in this abandoned hotel I catch the sight of people that are impassive and archaic like the color of walls.
The eyes search along with me and take me to the quest of the possibility of being.
The story that lingers on as long as you are!
Père Lachaise
Paris 2006-2007
Family Burial Chambers
Qazvin 2004-2008
Ye Photograph, remain eternal as a memorial of me!
2004-2006
Once again, they are in front of a photographer. Now nobody dies for them and nobody falls in love with them. Only their memory comes and goes every now and then. In their time, they would step into a photography atelier to eternalize themselves and today I, the photographer, have stepped into their sanctum to record their photos. When they look at me from the two-dimensional frame of their photos; I feel I should say, “Please smile!” and they smile only for a moment and as soon as I manage to push the shutter I find myself in the atelier; but their photographs have been there for years and the whole affair takes place only in my imagination.
The photographs of the present exhibition have been taken during the years 2004 and 2006 in one of the old graveyards of Qazvin. Some of the photos are more than 50 years old. No modification has been made on the photographs.
Sea
2008(In progress)
Masouleh
1995-2011
Generally, I choose places for photography that have been seen many times and this being seen helps me find more: Masoule, graveyard, sea, and so on. The first time I entered Masoule, a heap of others’ photographs passed through my camera visor: windowpanes, storksbills, terraced roof tops and…but finally, I could manage to find my own view of this ancient city. I find a kind of poeticality in this city, which is formed at times by individuals, at times in things and sometimes in empty spaces.
The Workshop of Woman’s Shoes
Tehran,alley Syed Ali, 1995
Photobook / Mehdi Vosoughnia
Editor: Arash Hanaei – Mehdi Vosoughnia
15 x 21 cm / 108 Pages / Bilingual
First Edition 2015 / bon gah Publishers
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Anzali / Book / Mehdi Vosoughnia
Words: Arvin Illbeigi
19 x 22 cm / 120 Pages / Bilingual
First Edition 2014 / Nazar Publishing
ISBN 9786001521898
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Iran, année 38 / Book
21 x 28 cm / 192 Pages / French
First Edition 2017 / TEXTUEL Publishing
ISBN 9782845975811
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