Nil Nil by Shadi Ghadirian (December 29, 2009) 
(9 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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Categories / Conceptual Photography / staged photography / / Click here to open comments section, click again when done to close / 2 Comments
Introduction by Fariba Farshad
While Fataneh Dadkhah (published yesterday) narrows her focus to a painted face Shadi Ghadirian empties her scenes of characters altogether and allows their possessions to take over. For her Nil Nil series she photographs military objects - helmet, canteen, bayonet, ammunition belt, and so on in a domestic setting. Removed from their context, these accoutrements of war appear at once menacing and delicate, their agression tempered by the feminine element. So we have images of a hand grenade in a fruit bowl, a bloody bayonet as a place-setting, stilletoes and army boots left outside the door, a gas mask in the kiddies' toy bag and dog tags in the jewellery box. Shadi Ghadirian's objects speak volumes about the lives of their absent owners but those volumes are for us - the viewer - to write.
Read Fariba Farshad's general introduction on her week of Iranian photographers here.
Next / Meditations On Sichuan’s Da Liang Mountain / Previous / Vivid Colours, Muted Backgrounds /
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...
Shadi Ghadirian lives and works in Tehran. She is quite clear about her occupation: "I am a woman and I live in Iran. I am a photographer and this is the only thing I know how to do." Shadi's photographs are iconic. They are rightly famed for their representation of the traditional versus the modern women in Iran. Shadi's subject matter is both contemporary and collectable, and her voice has travelled far and wide - crossing oceans and cultures in over forty exhibitions.
In her new series White Square, Nil Nil and My Press Photos she adds the subject of war to her lexicon. For White Square, Shadi photographed (against a white, neutral background) objects of military use - helmet, canteen, ammunition belt, etc. - that she decorates with a little red silk ribbon. Removed from their context, these accoutrements of war appear at once menacing and delicate. With Nil Nil, these same objects penetrate the domestic space. As for the collages that comprise My Press Photos, they combine images drawn from press-agency catalogues with old portraits of Iranian military men. Across time and space, war's violence sadly reminds us of its universal, essentially male, dimension.
Shadi Ghadirian completed her BA in photography at Azad University in Tehran. She has worked at the first museum of photography in Tehran, the Akskhaneh Shar, and has created the first Iranian website dedicated to contemporary photography. Her work has been exhibited in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Canada and Russia including Iranian Contemporary Art at the Barbican Centre, London, 2001. She has developed several touring exhibitions including Veil, England and Sweden, 2003-2004; Harem fantasies and the new Scheherazades, Spain and France, 2003-2004; Women in Orient Women in Occident, Germany, 2003-2004. Her work was featured in the Sharjah biennial, 2003, and the photo biennial of Moscow, 2004.
Shadi Ghadirian (1974) lives and works in Tehran, Iran.
Click weblink saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/shadi_ghadirian_biography.htm or browse our archives
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Posted in category 649
What an interesting conceptual set of images…
Wow!
I had a kind of stopped breath when I saw these nice photos…
The reason is at the following address :)
Few months ago I took some photos with a very similar “conceptual idea”. It’s funny and interesting to know about people having same kind of thoughts in mind. Great!
http://emilianoverrocchio10.blogspot.com/