Sensations in Images at Saremi's Photo Exhibit

A photography exhibition by Alireza Karimi Saremi, a contemporary Iranian photographer who has been active in the field for three decades, opened on September 23 at Ace Gallery in Tehran.

Saremi, 53, has presented 25 photos, 100x150 and 80x120 cm, printed digitally on canvas. The photos were taken at night.

The title of the exhibition is “The Dream of Gondola”, as Saremi has spent time, on and off, in Venice. For centuries, gondola, a traditional Venetian boat was used for transportation. However, in modern times, most gondolas are hired by tourists to explore the city's Grand Canal, one of the major water-traffic corridors in Venice, which has no roads but just canals.

These boats are propelled by a gondolier sometimes singing old Italian songs. The gondoliers mostly wear striped T-shirts, occasionally accompanied by flat-topped straw hats that along with other elements make the gondola a symbol of Venice.

Saremi's work communicates the sensation he felt, standing alone at nights on small bridges over Venetian canals, looking at the slow moving gondolas.

He successfully manages to convert his feelings into images, transforming the sensations in action with his camera and conveying a vivid sense of motion. The forms and curves seemingly appear, disappear and reappear, especially on the dark background colors which are vertical and diagonal compositions and deliver a sense of mystery and enigma.

The results are dynamic, energetic and flowing compositions which, in combination with the sensuous texture of the canvas on which the images are printed, make his style distinctive.

  Energy and Exuberance

It should be pointed out that Iranian viewers may not be much familiar with abstract photography, the way Saremi presents it. Appreciating this style requires special training, sensitivity and knowledge, particularly if one has not been previously exposed to abstract or minimalist art. In fact, his work is not only marked by lines, colors, formal structures and geometry, but brilliantly orchestrates energy and exuberance as well as rhythm and balance.

Saremi's images are not just images of the outside but rather reflections of the inside, the consciousness of his feelings.

The details of his formal arrangement of light and dark are acute. The colors and shapes are like the coherence of a musical piece: the rhythms in his photos are like songs meant to be heard; each photo an event in itself.

His photos’ aesthetic properties and particular features put his style in the category of Fine Art Photography, something that – as he said – is his interest. His vision and his ability to use digital and photographic techniques as a medium without any manipulations make his work special.

The exhibition ends on October 3, but Saremi's photos will continue to linger in our minds for a long time.

Giti Norouzian