● Birthplace: Tehran
mohammad_tehrani41 Biography
He started his photography activities in 1977. He was founder and manager of first visual arts site called: kargah.com, which was launched in 2000 and displayed the works of dozens of Iranian artists at home and abroad. The publication of art articles and visual arts news was one of other activities of this site. He was also founder of the Hamrah Photographers Center at beginning of 1991s and a member of the jury of several photo festivals. Other records of Mohammad Tehrani include: participation in founding board of Iranian Photographers Association, holding 4 individual exhibitions including at Iranian Artists Forum, Iranian Photographers House and several group exhibitions, publishing several theoretical articles on art and photography under title “Photography From Industry to Art” in AKS magazine, secretary of the first flower and plant photo festival, participation in different periods of biennial Iran photo festival, membership in Iranian Photographers’ Association and membership in Iranshahr Photographers’ Association.
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Activities
1977 – Beginning of photography activity
1987 – Selected in first annual photo exhibition of Iran
1988 – Selected in second annual photo exhibition of Iran
1993 – The first solo exhibition titled “Shadows and Look 1” at Iran Photographers House
2000 – Establishment of Kargah visual arts site (www.kargah.com)
2005 – Playing a role in establishment of Iranian Photographers Association
2007 – Second solo exhibition titled Shadows and Look 2 at Iranian Artists Forum
2009 – Appearing in television program “Two Steps Before Dawn” and talking with Afshin Shahroudi on topic: Photography, from reality to dreams.
2010 – Participation in exhibition Man, Nature, Abstraction, exhibition of Iranian photographers in Halabja, Iraq
2010 – Jury of first national environmental photo festival – Harra
2010 – Presence in Kermanshah province, to prepare photos and documentaries on behalf of the Revolutionary and Holy Defense Photographers Association
2010 – Participation in jury of the 2nd Camera Net news photo festival
2010 – Attending Greatmore Art event in South Africa and holding an exhibition of photos from the same trip
A look at works of Mohammad Tehrani
The first thing that comes to mind in connection with Mohammad Tehrani’s photos is his attention and interest in nature. Flowers, trees, leaves, etc., have always been used as subjects in his photographs.
But the most important thing that distinguishes Mohammad Tehrani’s artistic attitude from other naturalist photographers is his view of nature and its various manifestations. Communication with his photos is possible on several levels, and this is one of the advantages of his work.
1- At the level of Form / at first glance, we may consider him a formalist photographer, because way of placing the forms in his frames is very principled and he is faithful to the main principles of composition. These forms, in connection with each other, create other functions such as creating aesthetic, semantic, semiotic interpretations and…. In some photos, these forms were selected from their environment and in others they were made in another environment. In the photos that the photographer found and selected these forms in nature; A very interesting thing has happened.
In fact, presence of new forms in new environments has caused us to become unfamiliar with many of these environments and our view of them. An example is his photos by the sea.
If we consider naturalism as one of the main characteristics of Mohammad Tehrani’s works, another characteristic also moves along with this characteristic in his works, and that is a kind of “minimalist” tendency and attention to details. Unlike many nature photographers, he avoids generalities and crowded frames and follows work in details.
Empty frames and empty spaces are one of main features of Mohammad Tehrani’s artistic photographs. This tendency brings a detailed discussion that finally leads us to the second level of connection with his works, which is “Meaning”.
2- At the level of Meaning / if we follow the spirit hidden in the philosophy of the West and the East from the beginning to present day and consider dualities and divisions of these two philosophies from long ago until now, we must say that the most important distinguishing feature of philosophy of East is based on Emptiness and concentration on it. This minimalistic and partial view originates from paying attention to empty spaces and not paying attention to the crowding, peak of which can be seen in the Japanese haiku poems and Japanese paintings, and sometimes in Rumi’s poems. But the most important point here is that this void in works of East is completely different from usual concept of “emptiness” and “emptiness”.
This vacuity, is a vacuity that has soul and element and is able to communicate. In addition, that element in image is supposed to show totality of image. For example, in Japanese painting, one brush stroke is enough to make whole painting meaningful. But the place and the way this impact is created is very important. In the photography works of Mohammad Tehrani, you can see gaps that are filled by the correct placement of a flower or a branch. This vacuity, while it is supposed to make you stop and reflect and think, establishes a relationship and dialectic between that flower and empty space. At the same time, it makes this space no longer considered empty, but participates in a conversation with element in the scene.
Paying attention to details in works of this artist causes reflection and thinking and reaching conclusions. This problem can also be seen in framing of this artist photographer. Where we are supposed to go from presence of a branch in first plan to a forest behind it. This attention to details, as said before, is the most important issue of Japanese haikus. For example, consider this example: fallen leaves
They are resting on the rocks
at the bottom of water
(From the book of Japanese poetry from beginning to present, Cheshmeh publication, translated by Ahmad Shamlou and A. Pashaei)
Correct framing and especially appropriate use of colors and black and white in his photos are very noticeable. In Mohammad Tehrani’s black and white photos, strong contrasts have created an expressive and poetic atmosphere. A space that serves mentality and atmosphere of photo. In addition, photographer has created space with help of colors in many places and has used colors very well and beautifully; So that the presence of color in photo plays a very important role, and without another color, photo is not the same as previous photo. In fact, in many photos, colors themselves have created a kind of composition, while complementary colors such as blue and yellow, green and red, etc, have also been used.
His photos are among the photos that do not remain at one level and have the ability to interpret and reach different levels. In addition, they have the ability to communicate (or better say, dialogue) with other works of art such as paintings, poems, calligraphy, etc. A conversation that takes place through photography and is not supposed to turn photography into a dominant discourse. From this point of view, his photos demand a kind of space and active and democratic participation of his audience. An audience that is not passive in this conversation and has a share to fill and communicate.
In fact, all mentioned angles are an entry to start this conversation. What does anyone know? Perhaps, the era of monotonousness and dominance of artworks in different genres has come to an end. It is natural at a time when communication has expanded to such an extent, arts cannot keep themselves in beautiful and original glass cages, and in the writer’s opinion, this concern is one of the blessings of postmodern era.
