Lot 134: AMIRALI GHASEMI

Untitled from Coffeeshop Ladies
Signed, dated and numbered 4/5 in ink on the verso.

74.9 x 100.3 cm. (29 1/2 x 39 1/2 in).

Digitial colour coupler print.

2006

 

 

Acquired directly from the artist

`Coffeeshop Ladies', made in collaboration with artists, designers, musicians, and DJs, is part of my Tehran Remixed multimedia journey into Tehran's underground life. Tehran Remixed is an adventure through the invisible veins of the metropolis and reflects the different aspects of young Iranians' social life, lost in their secret, wicked, and hedonistic dreams: private parties of chilled-out intellectuals; crowded streets with teenage girls waiting for a ride; internet surfers showing off over Web cams in the dead of night.
 
In contrast to the prejudicial images of the international mass media, this series of documentary photos were taken in Tehran's popular cafes (called `coffeeshops' in Iran), which are a symbol of social freedom due to the absence of proper public gathering places. Coffeeshops are where the splendidly motivated young and the intelligentsia gather. To protect the young ladies in these photographs, their faces are blanked out, so that the media cannot misuse or manipulate their identities.
 
Amirali Ghasemi, Iranian Photography Now, ed. Rose Issa, 2008, p. 60