Paris Photo: part 2

Paris Photo - 19 to 21 November 09

our guest blogger Tamara wrote how this event with Arab and Iranian photos gave a new perspective:

" The exhibition as a whole presents this region in a very different way and challenging to the public, either it’s a western or middle eastern public. It puts into question what is the region, who are the people, what is the landscape, what are the images and symbols--both to old fashioned orientalised views of the region, but also to a stylized sometimes fanciful self image of its own people.
It is current and engaged with a reality, harsh, complex and loaded. The representations of the topics, whether they be memory— personal, war, geographic; self representation through lyrical imagery; or a new language for self expression are in many ways an important departure from the past. They are contemporary in their use of material and technique, but also honest in their preoccupation with the issues of the regions. This collection of work is as local as it is global. That has both strengths and  weaknesses, but it is certainly a reflection of the times."

Sherihan, Egyptian actress, 1976,

by Van Leo

from the Arab Image Foundation