©Mitra Tabrizian, from series ‘Leicestershire’, 2012

Interviewed by Heming Liu

Born in Tehran, Iran, lives and works in London, Mitra Tabrizian has exhibited and published widely and in major international museums and galleries, including her recent solo exhibition at the Tate Britain in 2008 - other solo shows include, Museum of Folkwang, Germany, 2003, Moderna Mussset, Stockholm, Sweden, 2006 amongst others. Her books include, Correct Distance (Corner house publications) with an introduction by Griselda Pollock- Beyond the Limits (Steidl 2004) with an introduction by Stuart Hall - Another Country (Hatje Cantz, 2012) with a forward by Homi Bhabha.

A consistent aspect throughout your projects is the photographic confrontation of appearances. One of the subjects you analyzed in your earlier work is the ‘femme fatale’ archetype in both literary and cinematic canon. How does fictionality influence your creative process in staging subjects?

Traditionally, the femme fatale (both in literature and cinema) is portrayed as the most desirable but dangerous, the ‘bad woman’! The world of ‘film noir’ is also another world, an underworld, closer to repressed and unspoken desires. At the end she either gets killed, or submitted to the law, or occasionally submits herself to the hero; turns into ‘a good woman’! In photography, however, narrative can only be ‘implied’, triggered off in fantasy. So the series here references various well known film noir of that period and leaves the reading open to interpretations.

©Mitra Tabrizian, from series ‘Correct Distance’, 1985-86

©Mitra Tabrizian, from series ‘film stills’, 2017-18

In many colorful, eccentric, and haunting subjects in your work, geography plays an evocative role in placing the social subtext, and psychological symptoms to otherwise cold characters. How has the aesthetic developed in your continued practice between ecosystem and individual?

Geography/ the actual location matters, as it says a lot about the social condition, and the individuals. For instance the series published here, Film stills’ (2018), which is shot in East London, it portrays a unique image of London - the ‘unseen’ city of migrants, living on the edge. This is not a city that you usually associate with London!

Film stills’ are often photographs of the main character (s) taken on or off the set of a movie to introduce/publicize the film. Inspired by a feature film I made in 2017 entitled ‘Gholam’, the stills here take a rather innovative approach to the concept! The work uses the real locations of the film, yet focuses on the rejected cast, or the extras - or depicts the empty landscapes, with an implication of narrative. In this respect the images also differ from the usual film stills which often portray one or more characters – rarely devoid of people.

Set in London, ‘Gholam’ tells the story of an enigmatic Iranian taxi driver, who doesn’t like to talk about his past, doesn’t care about his future, and doesn’t commit to anything/is uncommitted. A man with no past, no future, no ‘conviction’, he still gets involved in the conflict of a total stranger and carries it through, regardless of the consequences. So the story contains an element of danger and the risk that the character has to take getting involved with some one else’s problem. The stills here, however, with their pared- down aesthetic, neither show, nor name the danger or the drama. Instead, the work presents a collection of enigmatic images, which leaves the narrative open to interpretation - telling the story differently or even induce the anti-story!

Through out the film, the main character remains an enigma. So in these stills, he is not replaced/represented by any of the rejected cast, a strategy used to maintain/enhance the mystery, echoing the film. The only indication is his whereabouts; the places he’s been, or heading to - or the hidden danger awaiting in these deserted landscapes, alluding to the ‘out-of-the-frame’.

Representations of contemporary society in your work are interwoven with a conceptual curiosity in dimensions and distance. As you approach different locations, and models of interest, how has your gaze adapt to the societal structures, if so at all?

I’m interested in reworking the ‘documentary genre’, increasing so, in later works. Looking at various aspects of what we might call the ‘crisis of contemporary culture’. So each project focuses on a different subject, and I ask volunteers to ‘play themselves’. There is something interesting about the idea of ‘re-enactment’; whether ex- factory workers in ‘Leicestershire’ series (2012) – or Muslim community in London in ‘Another Country’ series (2010) – or students in Iran in ‘Untitled’(2009) – or the bankers in ‘City, London, 20008’. This is to problematize the straightforward/ a more simplistic representation of the subject, to create ‘distanciation’/ instigate a critical reading.

Describe your creative process in one word.

Attempt at innovation! Sorry can’t describe in one word!

If you could teach a one-hour class on anything, what would it be?

Not to conform, to follow your vision regardless of what the audience/market may want?

What was the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?

Albert Camus’ The Outsider, which I read some time ago, and reread recently in relation to a commissioned project, and realized that how influential/inspirational it's been throughout my work! Also, ‘The Return’ by the Russian director, Andrey Zvyagintsev

What is the most played song in your music library?

The most recent one was Azal Izilane by an Algerian musician Akli D that I used in the film ‘Gholam’.

How do you take your coffee?

Thick and strong, like Italian expresso

Check out Mitra’s new book, Off screen, kerber verlag, 2019