Paris Photo 2009 begins today. Unfortunately I am in Baltimore. The focus this year is Arab and Iranian photography and the central exhibition space is devoted to the Beirut archive I have written about before, the Arab Image Foundation. The Paris Photo website includes a selection of their photos that are on display in Paris.
Tonight a group of photographers will discuss the art photo scene in the Arab world and Iran with guest curator of Paris Photo Catherine David at the Institut du Monde Arabe. Among them is Yasser Alwan, whose wonderful work I have recently used in a publication by the Solidarity Center called "The Struggle for Worker's Rights in Egypt," written by Joel Beinin. His photos are included in Paris Photo in the Sfeir-Semler gallery space along with Wael Shawky and Akram Zaatari (who I have also written about on this blog, here).
Many of Alwan's photos are portraits that show people as individuals in the context of their work or in the public sphere. Details of the street, workshop, tools of their trade, and clothing give the viewer clues to the texture of their lives. Although these portrayals convey a sense of dignity as well as compassion for the hardships of working class Egyptians, the photos do not devolve into abstract statements about the "human condition," a problem -- to my mind -- with some documentary photography.
The people in Alwan's photographs are always being themselves, even if caught in a particularly self-possessed, carefully composed moment. This is not "decisive moment" photography like that of Henri Cartier-Bresson or poetic street photographers like Robert Frank, both of whom preferred the candid and thus seemingly revealing gesture or expression. Alwan allows his subjects the privilege of projecting their image of themselves to the camera knowingly and with confidence. People in the Middle East, especially the working class, have historically not often been allowed that kind of agency or control over their own appearance. This doesn't mean that the resulting photos are somehow less true or meaningful. As in all photography, the fraction of a second exposure can only convey that momentary slice of time. Things look different in the next instant. But in this brief moment of speaking to the camera Alwan's subjects tell us something about their resilience and uniqueness with complex expressions of defiance, curiosity, humor, patience or sadness.
I urge you to look at Alwan's photos on his website and also to explore Paris Photo, in Paris if possible! I would love to hear comments from anyone who gets a chance to see the exhibitions.
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