ANALOG IRAN
Photography Exhibition in Antwerpen
New York City, August 12, 2016 – Iran dismantles its nuclear program and Western sanctions are lifted.
Almost four decades after the Iranian Revolution, a historic rapproachment seems at hand. At Pedrami Gallery in Antwerp photographer Sam Asaert presents the photographic results of his journey through the heartland of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the exact moment the UN lifted the sanctions.
Using 35mm and 120mm analog photography techniques, which were the norm at the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Sam Asaert set out to capture poetic and intimate impressions of Iranian society, on the brink of potential change. Are these photographic impressions fleeting? Or are they timeless?
From people to landscapes, the photographs of Sam Asaert invite you to take an intimate look at contemporary Iran and implore you to ask yourself; Has Iran evolved passed its revolution?
“There is an innate yearning present within me and my work for a greater understanding and deeper connec- tion with those who seem (or are presented) to be different. A reoccurring theme in my work is social, cultural and religious conflict in the many ways in which it presents itself. I feel it is the responsibility of the documentarian to capture not only people and their plight, but more than anything also their dignity and sense of humanity. I invite everyone to come and explore my work, and through it their own understanding of contemporary Iranian society. Who are the Iranians? Where have these past four decades left them? And how does Iranian society appear on the moment of historic rapproachment?”
The photography exhibition ‘Analog Iran’ will open on Thursday 8th September at Pedrami Gallery. It will run for 10 days, until Sunday 18th September.
Sam Asaert is a Belgian international award-winning filmmaker and photographer, as well as a member of the International Federation of Journalists. He holds a Masters in the Visual Arts, from the RITSC School of Arts in Brussels. He has worked on five different continents in the past two years, dividing his time between New York City, Tehran, Russia and his hometown of Antwerp.