Balouchi Brides by Fataneh Dadkhah (December 28, 2009) 
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Curator Statement – Fariba Farshad
More than any of the Iranian photographers featured so far Fataneh Dadkhah is steeped in theatre. She pioneered stage photography in Iran and documented the re-birth of theatre after the 1979 Iranian revolution. Theatre remains the overriding influence on her work ‘The world to me represents the stage of a theatre. I witness this scene through my camera. At any given moment in time, I see the unfolding of a scene with its unique characters.’ In her Balouchi Brides series she adopts a similar approach to Ramin Haerizadeh in that the work moves between the interior and private and the exterior and public. She plays no part, she simply observes the extraordinary painted face which must be covered in public. Tradition dictates that the actor has no audience, yet in the instant of allowing Fataneh in that tradition has been undercut.
Read Fariba Farshad's general introduction on her week of Iranian photographers here.
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
Fataneh Dadkhah graduated from the College of Mass Communications and Social Sciences and began her professional career in photography working in live theatre. Dadkhah went on to pioneer stage photography as an artistic discipline within Iran, and documented the rebirth of Iranian theatre following the 1979 revolution, which resulted in her 1983 book, Theatre Photography, published with Dramatic Arts Centre in Iran.
Although she left theatre photography many years ago, Dadkhah says: “I am still under the influence of theater in my work. The world to me represents the stage of a theatre. I witness this scene through my camera. At any given moment in time, I see the unfolding of a scene with its unique characters. My aim is to eternalize this scene forever.”
Since 2001 Dadkhah has travelled extensively inside and outside of Iran taking snapshots of her experiences. Through her photographs, Dadkhah seeks to make her audience reflect upon and reconsider the elements of ordinary life that she artfully captures. Her aesthetic is concerned with the language of colour, lines and shapes, as she strives for simplicity.
Balouchi Brides is a series that was taken during her travels in Balouchestan, Iran, in 2007. The vivid colours and sumptuous materials echo theatre costumes of Dadkhah’s early career, an overtone which she enhances with the stripped back and muted backgrounds. This aesthetic approach throws the bridal party into sharp focus, bringing to mind the presentation of the principal players within stage productions. “In my view, photography is not simply copying the world around me. It is the ability of the photographer to use her sense of aesthetics to eternalise a decisive moment, causing the audience to ponder.”
Fataneh Dadkhah (1952) lives and works in Tehran, Iran.
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