Abbas Moradi Joorabi
Imamzadeh Davood
1997
Text
Sara YektapourMultiplicity of Aspects
This photograph- with its multiplicity of space, saturated colors, and
countless notable details- does not allow a single focal point to be
determined. It takes away the authority of singularity and does not confine
itself—neither to the frame nor to any part within it. How can I see everything
without overlooking something? And with my limited words, which should I
address? That half-open door that allows a peek into the interior, or the view
above and its unclear relation to the geography of the picture? Should my eyes
rest on those uncertain children in the middle of the image and the staring,
terrifying gaze of that girl? Or on that round samovar, part of which I can see
through that strange mirror? The mother, or mothers, who seem always to be in
our hearts—or those who have arranged the space this way. A relationship that
has taken on a Christian iconography: Mary and Jesus and the cross at Imamzadeh
Davood!
The photographer, without manipulating the borders of the photograph and using
the potential of the frame, has expanded it so that one can imagine an overall
space through three layers of the picture. The interior space (starting from
the door on the right and ending behind the glass on the left), the middle
space (the most obvious layer), and the opposite space, part of which can be
seen through the reflection on the left glass.
And the television screen; that vague point, that lonely silence.
No! This vagueness is not from silence, and the television is not an isolated
element. Its loud noise is what makes it indistinguishable. It is as if the
magic of the box has poured into the photograph—onto the wall and glass, into
the mirror and frames, under the table, and all other parts. And that blue
screen, since whatever it shows cannot match the wonders of the space, becomes
silent; with an indistinct uproar that appears on the screen or reflects off
it. And now it is part of this flat order.