A collection of mobile photos ‘Chargoosh’ (literally four square) by 14 artists opened at the Silk Road Gallery on Friday. The group exhibition includes photography by Ako Salemi, Amir Nava, Behrooz Mehri, Hamed Farhangi and several other young artists.
The introduction note to the event says: “Chargoosh is the square-shape screen of smart cell-phones through which life, people, street views and whatever is around us, can be seen. To date, social networks, such as Instagram, have drastically changed principles of photography, putting the focus on the subject and the instant reaction of the audience,” ISNA reported.
Advancement in the state of the art technology in the field of cell-phone cameras turned mobile photography, also known as ‘mobigraphy’, into a profession, and paved the way for quick and high quality photography. Classic street photography was founded by artists namely French Henri Cartier-Bresson, Americans Robert Frank, photographer and filmmaker, and Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand, street photographers in the 70s with small cameras. They were the golden years of street photography, as it saw the peak of this profession. Mobile photography is so much more than a novelty for ‘selfies’. Instead, it documents humanity “as it passes by on the streets.”
With cell-phone photography emerging as a common social activity, their images have received special attention as documentary, art, film or photography in official and professional networks.
Cell-phone art has taken photography to a new level of public viewing and it is not farfetched for ‘mobigraphy’ to turn a milestone in the history of photography as street photography did in the 70s.
‘Chargoosh’, directed by Behrooz Mehri, will run through June 22 at the gallery at No 103, Lavasani Avenue (Farmanieh), Tehran.
