Alireza Fani “The Privacy” series

Alireza Fani

The idea of this series started from the portraits I was occasionally commissioned to shoot. I captured most of my clients’ portraits in their own homes. I guess the human image can be perceived quite differently when one is in his or her own personal space, surrounded by objects and personal belongings. Thus, I decided to create a series by photographing couples in their own homes. I shared the idea to some friends and by June 2018, I photographed two dear friends and created the very first photograph of this series. Initially, I wanted to include 10 to 12 photographs in the project; however, there were some who did not want to be photographed. One of them even had no interest in being seen beside his spouse. Reasons were numerous: some understandable and some strange. Since there could be no project without the couples willing to participate, I decided to post an open call on my Instagram page to see if anyone, along with their partners of choice, would be interested to be a part of the project. I had to remove the post the following day, as the number of demands were beyond my expectation, which reshaped the process. At that point, I decided not to be selective anymore. The very fact that there were many couples ready to be seen openly, dress up, and seat next to their life partners in front of my camera, was already satisfying and respectable to me. I contacted them one by one, explained the project, sent them the model release form, and after their declaration of consent, we arranged the date for shooting. I did not know most of them, nor did I had any idea where I was going to take the pictures. It was such a pleasant experience. I spent almost two hours socializing with each couple and taking their photographs. The outcome is now before your eyes. It was the result of a mutual trust between me and those who believed in their choice—I guess. I feel so fortunate that I was allowed into their privacy and to be able to share a moment of their togetherness with you.

Alireza Fani, “The Privacy” book, digital C-print on Fujifilm Crystal Archive paper, inside paper: Steinbach 160gr, edition of 40 + 2 AP, 21 x 28.5 x 2.5 cm, 2018
Alireza Fani, untitled, from “The Privacy” series, digital C-print, 10 x 15 cm, 2018
Alireza fani,”The Privacy”, installation view, 2019
Alireza fani,”The Privacy”, installation view, 2019
Alireza fani,”The Privacy”, installation view, 2019