A young Iranian photographer, Alireza Fani, exhibited his collections ‘Aridity’ and ‘Displacement’ at Tehran’s Mohsen Art Gallery.
The collection included nine pictures in 90 by 120 cm and 15 tableaus of breathtaking landscapes in 90 by 200 cm, created during his long 8,000-km journey across different regions of Iran, Honaronline quoted Fani as saying. The frames are not limited to a certain style and “I follow my mind in photography,” he said.
The series took nearly two years to complete, Fani said, adding that the two exhibits were “the fruit of my arduous tour of the country.”
Three pictures, titled ‘Fake Lake, Fake Desert’, spotlighted Urmia Lake, located in West Azarbaijan Province, which is turning dry and becoming a desert as a result of human destruction.
Earlier, in an introduction to the exhibition, the artist said: “The first three pictures show a lake near Kahrizak landfill, 24 km south of Tehran, which has been allocated for municipal waste burial since 1960. Nearly 5,600 tons of solid waste is buried there daily. The landfill’s deep black pit of leachate pollutes large amounts of groundwater. The pollution has created an ‘acid lake’, extending over 12 hectares, emitting strong methane gas.”
The other photographs focused on Urmia Lake, the world’s sixth largest saltwater lake with a surface area of approximately 5,200 sq km, which today has become a vast salt marsh.
“All living organisms have been living in harmony since millions of years, but the human being is the only species indiscriminately harming the environment through illogical policy decisions.”
Fani said of his photography, “I pictured the scenes that I desired of the environment”.
