Gulf Photo Plus on the Alserkal Avenue is hosting The Life of an Itinerant through a Pinhole, a solo exhibition by artist and researcher Behzad Khosravi Noori. This showcase reconstructs the visual history of marginalised communities through the lens of Noori’s grandfather, Gholamreza Amirbeigi. The exhibition will welcome all visitors until 31 March 2025.
Drawing from an archive of photographs taken between 1956 and 1968, Khosravi Noori examines the work of Amirbeigi, a working-class immigrant photographer who lived in Tehran during a period of urban expansion. After the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran, Tehran saw an influx of working-class migrants from smaller towns amidst economic hardship. Through Amirbeigi’s auto-ethnographic methods, the exhibition reveals how the echoes of this past still shape the present.
Visitors embark on a journey through time, beginning in post-World War II Tehran. Using Amirbeigi’s images, the exhibition explores themes of working-class agency, unconscious colonial memory, and its impact on modern identities in the Global South. Khosravi Noori’s research highlights the significance of itinerancy, not just in Amirbeigi’s movement as a photographer, but in the way images travel, carrying hidden histories and the lingering effects of colonisation.
Beyond documenting the immigrant working-class experience in Tehran, Noori’s exhibition examines the metaphorical significance of the photographic backdrop. By archiving, collecting, and displaying his grandfather’s photos, he sheds light on the erasure of marginalised communities and the potential for reclaiming lost narratives. This microhistory prompts a crucial question: What will become of our collective past as we move into the future?
About the artist
Behzad Khosravi Noori (b. 1976) is a PhD, artist, writer, and educator, who resides in Stockholm (Sweden). In his research-based practice that encompasses films, installations, and archival studies, he explores histories from The Global South, labour, and the means of production, as well as the counter-narratives that existed alongside East-West political relations during the Cold War.
By revisiting contemporary history and memories beyond national borders, Khosravi Noori examines the complexities of entangled and non/aligned histories. His work often bridges personal experience with global events, connecting microhistories with larger socio-political narratives. Through film and archival materials, he investigates questions such as: What happens to a story when it crosses borders? and What is the future of our shared past?
Khosravi Noori’s work has been exhibited in Sweden at such venues as Kalmar Museum, Malmö Art Museum, and Center for Photography (CFF), as well in other countries, including Pakistan (12.0 Contemporary in Islamabad), Croatia (HDLU and WHW in Zagreb), and Latvia (Centre of Contemporary Art in Riga). The artist also participated in the Timișoara Biennale (Romania) and the Venice Biennale (Italy).
To get more information about The Life of an Itinerant through a Pinhole, please visit the official web page of the exhibition.
Additionally, you might be interested in viewing twelve historical photo albums launched by Akkasah, a photo archive at NYU Abu Dhabi.
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