Zaatari talks about archive

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Zaatari works questions regarding the value of photogpraphy and archive.

Akram Zaatari will discuss aspects of studio photography in relation to geographic specificity Dec. 13 at 6:30p.m.at SALT. Zaatari will show samples of his work from Van Leo, Cairo and Studio Shehrazade, Saida, Lebanon.

His work has been known to answer questions regarding the value of photographs and how photographic material can be used.

Zaatari’s practice is tied to the practice of collecting. He is a co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation (Beirut, 1997) and has been since researching photographic practices in the Middle East, examining how photography has shaped notions of aesthetics, postures and social codes. Interested in looking at the present through a wealth of past photographic records, since 1999 Zaatari has been focusing on the archive of Studio Shehrazade, studying, indexing and presenting the work of photographer Hashem el Madani (b. 1928) as a register of social relationships and photographic practices.

Zaatari’s works have been shown internationally at Centre Georges Pompidou; Tate Modern; Kunstverein Munich; Haus der Kunst, Munich; MUSAC, Leon; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo; Lisson Gallery; and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg. k HDN