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Health & Fitness

A Lesson in Perspective: Hadi Gharabaghi Presents 'Persian Visions'

Artist and UMBC alum, Hadi Gharabaghi discusses the works currently on display in the exhibition, Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran.

Veiled figures, blurred faces, decaying silhouettes and texts; the beautifully haunting photographs currently featured in Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran at UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery conjures up questions for the represented artists. What does it mean? Where does it come from? On Tuesday, February 19, guests have a chance to find out.

Artist and UMBC alum, Hadi Gharabaghi, originally from Tehran, Iran, will discuss the photographs on display, shedding light on the appearance of some of the cultural, historic and religious symbolism and imagery depicted.

In Persian Visions, the stunning works of 20 of Iran’s most celebrated photographers offer a glimpse into the aspects of existence – family, history, language, memory, mortality, place – that engage us all. In this lecture, Gharabaghi draws from personal experience, and uses his keen understanding of the value of assimilation and identity for Iranian artists, to offer insight into the way these artists use the camera as a tool for cultural expression and self exploration.

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Gharabaghi will also draw from the influence of his experience as a young boy during the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979, who sought refuge in the imaginative world of literature and cinema, to touch upon the way in which the political climate in Iran affects practicing artists today.

Hadi Gharabaghi’s background in photography, film, art history, theory and criticism includes a B.A. in Photography from Montgomery College, a B.A. in Visual Art with a concentration in Art History from UMBC, and experience in numerous exhibitions and educational projects. He is a Jack Cooke Kent Foundation Scholar, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Cinema Studies at NYU where his focus is Iranian film.

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Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran is on display until March 24.

View the works and join in on the discussion, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery. Discover more, including directions, at UMBC’s Arts and Culture Calendar.

This event is free and open to the public.

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