Statement:

Mehrdad Ghasemkhan (DB) – Dastan's Basement from June 17 to July 29, 2022, presents "Remains of the Day". A series of photographs and videographies by emerging photographer Sina Shiri, Curated by Alborz Kazemi. Born in 1991 Sina Shiri is a Tehran-based photographer. This is the artist's first solo show with Dastan's Basement Street photography is his primary focus in this collection. Sina takes snapshots of ordinary people or everyday subjects in a public or urban setting. People and situations, which at times exhibit geographical characteristics of the city of Tehran, are the most significant elements of each piece. With a documentary vision, Sina steps into the streets and takes snapshots of subjects in the throes of everyday life. Each frame is an arrived-at perception of reality as if we were beholding an artificial vision of urban moments. Some subjects are aware of the presence of the camera and others are not.///

Shiri photographs a unique moment when the subject appears to have  no sense of control over his/her body, hence, the gesture of each character is much closer to his/her personality. By using artificial lighting, the photographer stages his photographs. Perhaps by applying such a vision to photographs, Sina Shiri deconstructs the relationship between the individual and the city - how humans have inhabited the city, and how the city inhabits them! Works of Sina have appeared in various international photography festivals including Photoville (2015, New York, USA), Les Rencontres de la photographie d 'Arles (2017, Arles, France) Cité Internationale des Arts (2019, Paris, France), and Middle East Now Festival (2020, Bologna, Italy).