Framing topics such as immigration, cultural modernity and orientalism, contemporary photographer Jalal Sepehr creates visual paradoxes with carpets – a traditional and well-known symbol in Middle Eastern culture. Born and raised in Iran, Sepehr has absorbed the fluid and complex social fabric of the Middle East and translates it through his surrealist masterpieces. While his topics might seem exclusively central to this region, his work has caught the attention of an international audience – featuring in galleries across Europe, including Belgium, France and Italy.
The self-taught photographer has become synonymous with his symbolic use of carpets, vast spaces, and contrasting colours, to frame traditional-meets-contemporary photo-novellas that will continue to pulsate across the years. And through that, he leaves room for much interoperation. As you immerse yourself in his idyllic frames, you begin to notice the nuances that each detail carries – a culture seemingly frozen in time, unable to choose between the past and present while somehow living between both.
https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/Iranian-photographer-Jalal-Sepehr
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