ARIA SHAHROKHSHAHI
Aria Shahrokhshahi is a British-Iranian photographer and filmmaker, represented by Object & Animal. Although interested in incorporating multimedia into his work, Shahrokhshahi’s work is documentary at its core, focusing on a variety of diverse communities and the way people interact inside them. Social structures - and more broadly, the human condition – fascinate Shahrokhshahi, as do the relationships and power dynamics that inform our existence. Photography offers him a window of understanding into these communities and a way for him to explore the world around him.
His fervour for exploration has led him to complete projects across the globe, including in Gambia, Ukraine, Iran and in the UK where he lives.
In the future, Shahrokhshahi is looking to further his work in his home country Iran and keep his practise within long-form bodies of work that readily display his creative focus.
SKETCHBOOK VOLUME I.
EXHIBITION AT HAVE A BUTCHERS
6TH DECEMBER - 15TH DECEMBER
SKETCHBOOK VOLUME II.
EXHIBITION AT HAVE A BUTCHERS
18TH JULY - 29TH JULY
SHOW INSTALLATION
Sketchbook Volume I is the first informal compilation of Aria’s photographic work in Ukraine over the past 5 years (with the full book coming out in the next few years).
All profits from the zine sales have been donated to two charities Aria works closely with on the grounds of Ukraine.
1. Livyj Bereh (Rebuilding homes in the Kharvik region)
2. Base UA (Working with kids from frontline towns)
Sketchbook Volume 2 (2024) transposes the tempo of his Sketchbook Volume 1 exhibition (2023), this time focusing on the modality of everyday life in Ukraine as a document of time, seen through his eyes during experiences volunteering for the NGO’s Base UA and Livyj Bereh.
Showcasing new photographic, installation and sculptural work from the artist, exploring duality through conceptualization of Ukraine as a country of counterpoints - a space where everyday life continues in spite of a drawn-out crisis, a space where young people contemplate their futures in the face of unimaginable uncertainty, where natural landscapes and wildlife are documented only by virtue of military surveillance technology poised to bring about their annihilation.
The exhibition will be accompanied by the release of the Sketchbook Volume II magazine, which focuses on the specific motif of how rapidly advancing technology shapes the many potentialities that lay ahead of Ukraine and its people.
Proceeds from the sale of the magazines and prints of the works will be donated to the NGO’s Base UA and Livyj Bereh.
