Ismail Abbasi, the 74-year-old artist of our country, who has become a well-known figure in this field due to his activities in the field of photography, has the following opinion about the art of photography: "As I got further, I realized that photography is not just a technique, but a technique in the service of philosophy. It is a philosophical expression and you actually express your thoughts through this technique”.
Abbasi - photographer, translator and writer, university lecturer - is one of the six artists who were honored at the closing ceremony of the 14th Fajr Visual Arts Festival.
For this reason, we sat down to talk with this photographer to understand the feeling of discovering the secret of the images from his words.
Everything has been enjoyable for me
In an interview, Ismail Abbasi answered the question that if he went back to the past, would he still choose the same field and field? said: "The truth is, the way I came, when I look back and look back, it's all been fun for me. Some people think that being good means; Economically, the situation was very favorable. Not; I enjoyed the photography. In everything I have done since I was a teenager until now, it has been my choices and I have never done anything based on someone else's choice. That's why I enjoyed my work. Very simply, in one word, yes, if I go back to the past, I will still choose the same field and field."
He further explained the reason for enjoying photography as follows: "Every moment during photography, in addition to the technical issues that I learned, discovering codes was very pleasant for me. At that time, when we were taking photographs like now, we could not see the photo on the spot and this issue created an expectation of how the photo would turn out? Then there was photo printing, which itself had other strange pleasures; That we used to print and sometimes it didn't work and we tried again."
This artist added to his words: "I have three pictures; In the fifth period of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, I took 24 photos just as a test to print each one. that's mean; From morning to noon, I was just testing to get what I want. Maybe now, for today's kids who work with Photoshop, it doesn't take more than 15 seconds, and they are deprived of this pleasure."
Pointing out that photography is not just a technique, he said: "As I got further, I realized that photography is not just a technique, but a technique in the service of philosophy. It is a philosophical expression and you express your thoughts through this technique. For many, photography remains at the level of "technique"; But for a person who realizes that photography has another dimension, this knowledge will make you enjoy another thing. As a result, the questioning of photography and the discovery of its secrets have always been interesting to me."
The whole story has no long-term planning
Abbasi further commented on Fajr visual arts festival: “I'm not just talking about an image. The whole story does not have a long-term plan. Now, for example, a manager comes who is young and enthusiastic, he puts energy and things happen. Then the manager changes and the story also changes. If there is a long-term plan that every director who comes will serve, this festival will be recognized."
He asked the question, "Why are the world's international competitions known?" He answered himself: "Because they are performed year after year and are thought about. You keep a person in front of an intersection for 10 years and he stands there, everyone will recognize him. The basis of our problems is actually in management."
This photographer artist finally wished for the new year: "I just wish for peace."
