The Gradual Disappearance of Things

Mehrdad Afsari

“The image is an impression of the truth, a glimpse of the truth permitted to us in our blindness.”
Andrei Tarkovsky
The collection entitled “The gradual disappearance of things” is the result of a ten-year project. The idea was first sparked in my mind after reading Walter Benjamin’s controversial essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproducibility”, where Benjamin has discussed such issues as “aura” that surrounds a work of art, uniqueness of the work of art, art for general public, plurality, …
Ever since my involvement in the world of photographic nature of photography (where it depicts more than what pictures show), it was one of my major mental concerns. To be true, the interest in this magical and indefinable photographic nature became stronger and stronger in me day by day. One of the preliminary definitions of the photographic nature is copying and reproducing the world. Photography copies the world shot by shot and reproduces that part of the nature for indefinite times. Photos register a moment that has passed and it is interesting to know that photography brings the past moments into “existence”. In this collection, we see pictures repeated on negatives for 36 times with almost 10 seconds time interval between the first and last frame. They seem the same pictures but they are not, since their time is different. I have selected the scenes chiefly based on my photographic sensibility. This means I have taken photos from the scenes attracting my attention and arousing my sentiments. This is because the incident itself was important for me as a medium.
36 frames in 36 photos reproduced in 36 versions putting on display a total of 46656 frames of the moments gone.

Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
Mehrdad Afsari, “The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, analog photography, chemical print on professional photo paper, edition of 36 + 1 AP, 26 x 28 cm, 2014
“The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, installation view, 2014
“The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, installation view, 2014
“The Gradual Disappearance of Things” series, installation view, 2014