Reimagining Home

By Suzanne Révy

What happens to individuals when sweeping, dramatic and historic events overcome their lives? And how do communities preserve their culture and memories when they are caught up in the fluctuations of revolutionary and sometimes violent change? Iran is no stranger to erratic political unrest, and photographers Bahman Jalali and his student Gohar Dashti grapple with the global and internecine challenges that have faced the Iranian people in an intimate and timely show called “Reimagining Home: Photographs by Bahman Jalali and Gohar Dashti” currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston through July 12th, 2020. 

Untitled from the “Image of Imagination, Black and White” series by Bahman Jalali (Iranian, 1944–2010), Iran, 2002–2008, photograph, inkjet print from the Collection of Azita Bina and Elmar W. Seibel © Bahman Jalali, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Untitled from the “Image of Imagination, Red” series by Bahman Jalali (Iranian, 1944–2010), Iran, 2003 photograph, inkjet print from the Collection of Azita Bina and Elmar W. Seibel © Bahman Jalali Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Bahman Jalali, “Image of Imagination Black and White”  on view at the MFA Boston, from the Collection of Azita Bina and Elmar W. Seibel, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

Bahman Jalali (1944-2010) was a well known documentary photographer who covered the Iranian Revolution and the Iran Iraq war from 1979 to 1988. Later, he turned to teaching and became a scholar of the history of Iranian photography, which has a rich tradition dating back to the 1860’s. He began to make collages of found photographs in order to probe cultural, social and economic aspects of Iranian society in a series of portfolios called “Image of Imagination.” In some, he layered black and white group portraits of soldiers or well dressed men with a reclining female figure, bringing people from different religions or genders into a visual conversation. In others, Jalali employs the the color red that was originally the calligraphic letters of a well known photography studio shuttered after the Iranian Revolution. The red letters are overlayed onto images of shirtless athletes or Qajar women revealing aspects of society that became invisible after the revolution. By working conceptually after a long career in the straight documentary tradition, Jalali offers a profound understanding of history, humanity and the role photography plays in our collective memories. 

Gohar Dashti, from the  “Home,” series, 2017,  on view at the MFA Boston, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

Gohar Dashti, from the “Home” series, 2017 on view at the MFA Boston, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

Jalali was a mentor to a generation of Iranian photographers, including Gohar Dashti whose series “Home” is presented along side her teacher. In it, she photographed abandoned buildings and homes in Iran’s second largest city, Mashad, but instead of merely showing the textures of decay, she and her team staged the buildings with a flourish of natural elements. In one, tall brown grasses overtake an elegant bedchamber, in others, fern- like leaves march through a hall of a once elegant space or dead or dying plants dance or ascend the stairs in deserted and decaying structures. The absence of the human form creates a palpable emotional charge suggesting that those who were here, were forced to flee. What happened to the occupants of these once dignified interiors? And how will nature reclaim these spaces? 

Untitled, from the “Home” series by Gohar Dashti (Iranian,born in 1980), 2017 photograph, inkjet print, © Gohar Dashti, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

By presenting these two Iranian photographers together in conversation, Kristen Gresh, the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Curator of Photographs with Laura Weinstein, the Ananda Coomaraswamy Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art offers visitors an opportunity to better understand and empathize with the rich and varied history and culture of the Iranian people who have suffered conflicts, wars and displacement at the hands of forces within and beyond their borders. Jalali and Dashti seem to be asking two simple, but pointed questions: “who are my people?” and “where is my home?”

For more information

https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/reimagining-home

(Featured Image) Untitled, from the “Home” series by Gohar Dashti (Iranian,born in 1980), 2017, photograph, inkjet print © Gohar Dashti, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.