Online Exhibition
Quarantine
The world as we knew it has paused for the moment, perhaps changed forever. As for many in the arts, the global pandemic is posing huge and unfolding challenges for the entire photography community, from individual practitioners, to collectives and agencies, as well as global institutions and organizations. The COVID-19 situation impacts us all in different ways and there are certainly more uncertain times ahead, but one thing we know for sure: the global photography community remains creative and dynamic.
This series was photographed using an Agfa Isolette I camera on black and white film stock that had passed its expiry date. This model was first produced during WWII, and known as the ‘Soldiers’ Camera’. The expired negatives create enigmatic images, which also hide the soldiers’ identity. In fact, the soldiers all look the same, as their identity has disappeared in their uniform and their shared purpose to fight for the homeland.
The portraits are a combination of archival images of the Iran-Iraq war and photographs of the Martyrs’ Cemetery, printed on glass with the “Wet Collodion” technique; they are both fragile but immortal images. The video, by using archival images of the war, narrates the life during the war, a testimony of memories that do not return to be recounted in person.
