Anticipating

Anticipating; Babak Kazemi / Opening: Friday, 27 January 2017, 4 – 8 pm / Exhibition till 6 February 2017 / Closed on Saturdays and public holidays.

People who have left their homes, never to return.

Anticipating, the title of this collection is a reflection of the doors of houses which belonged to emigrants who have left their homes and homelands in search of a better life; houses which were left in ruin but still anticipate the return of their owners.

This collection has been developed using the “wet plate collodion” process and portrays the past and the dark destiny of emigrants in the new countries which have replaced their homelands.

This technique is one of the earliest used in the world for creating negatives. The placement of a dark screen behind the negatives transforms them into positives. This method has been selected with a fact in mind: the emigrants are constantly trying to take up social activities and start a new life as a good and positive member of the society; however, their dark past haunts them and it is only once they embrace their past that they can build a new personal identity.

Babak Kazemi, is a self-taught photographer born in 1983, Ahwaz, Iran. He has been a contributing photographer in more than 60 group photos exhibitions and has held ten solo exhibitions in Iran and other foreign countries such as America, France, Germany and Sweden. He has taken part in renowned biennials namely Venice Bienniale and art fairs such as Paris Photo. His photos have been published in major publications such as “Le Monde”, “Photo” and “Canvas”. Anticipating is Babak’s fourth solo exhibition to be held in Silk Road Gallery.