The region I am from contains one of the largest sources of oil and gas in the world yet its people receive little of this wealth. The land that has over millions of years produced these riches receives little respect and is poorly treated. It became the focus of one of the most tragic and longest wars in modern history with over a million dead and has yet to witness any rebuilding and redevelopment. It is also a deeply traditional and religious society. These are some of the issues I try to examine and relay in my work: the history of the region’s oil industry and the effects of this industry on the environment in H2S, its allure to foreign aggressors in Past Continuous, the results of war on the local population and their displacement in Khorramshahr in Number by Number, and my experiences during the two years of mandatory military service in Sir Yes Sir.

— Babak Kazemi

Babak Kazemi
Born in 1983, Ahwaz (IR)
Works and lives in Tehran (IR)

Education
Associate Degree, Graphic Design, Tehran (IR)

Solo Exhibitions
2012 Alice in Persianland, Homa Art Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2011 5+1, Homa Art Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2009 Past Continuous, Silk Road Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2008 Gavmishabad, Silk Road Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2008 Woman, Mehrva Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2008 Gavmishabad Documentary, Mah-e Mehr, Tehran (IR)
2007 H2S, Mehrva Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2003 Shahid Mofateh University Gallery, Hamedan (IR)
2001 Self-Portraits, Young Cinema Society Gallery, Ahvaz (IR)
2000 Shalamche, Young Cinema Society Gallery, Ahvaz (IR)

Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 Naftoon, Tarahan-e-Azad Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2011 Television, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2011 13.18 Portrait, Etemad Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2010 The Other, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2010 The Southern Front, Silk Road Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2010 Obligatory Military Service, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2010 The Kitchen, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2010 White and Black, Homa Art Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2010 Indoor Photography, Homa Art Gallry, Tehran (IR)
2010 Ministry of Nomads, London (UK)
2009 Revealing Truths, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait City (KW)
2009 Voice of Vision, Galerie Speos, Paris (FR)
2009 101: Oil and its Aftermath, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2009 New Art: Political Prisoners, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran (IR)
2008 Doubles, Mehrva Gallery, Tehran (IR)
2008 Image of the Year, Iranian Artists’ Forum, Tehran (IR)
2007 1st Iranian Photography Expo, Tehran (IR)
2007 Image of the Year, Iranian Artists’ Forum, Tehran (IR)
2006 Photography Biennal, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran (IR)
2006 New Art: Khorramshahr, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran (IR)
2006 Ashouraian, Akskhaneh Shahr Museum, Tehran (IR)
2006 Sea Photos, Saba Cultural Center, Tehran (IR)
2005 Deeper Depression, Tehran Art Gallery, Tehran (IR)

Awards
2006 Abrang Photo Festival, First prize, Mashad (IR)
2006 Resistance Art Festival, First prize, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran (IR)
2002 2nd Black and White Iran Photo Festival, First prize, Rasht Cultural Center, Rasht (IR)

Collections
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran (IR)
Museum of War, Tehran (IR)

Published in
2011 La Photographie Iranienne, Editions Loco, Paris (FR)
2009 Past Continuous, Mahriz Publications, Tehran (IR)