Another Country, Mitra Tabrizian, Hatje Cantz, 39,80 €

Powerful ideas may come from simply slowing down, taking time or stepping slightly outside ordinary life. Expressing unusual viewpoints without seeming artificial or awkward requires great artistic sensitivity. Mitra Tabrizian has a graceful and effective way of redirecting our view of reality. Her images group people and reality, yet there is space for questioning. In the foreword to Another Country, David Green writes, “Over the last decade, Tabrizian has produced a body of work that seeks to explore the political, social, and psychological dimensions of contemporary existence…” whether dominated by the logic of corporate culture and the exigencies of global capitalism, by the logic of religious order or by the law of urban tribes. No small accomplishment. The central idea is to draw us out of our prejudices and preconceptions. To achieve this, Tarbrizian poses her figures in her chosen settings, thereby provoking a sense of oddness, unnaturalness. The power of her work is breathtaking – the more you look, the more you want to see through her eyes. A new master photographer.

By H. M.