Newsha Tavakolian
Winner of the 5th Carmignac Photojournalism Award

Exhibition: 13 May – 7 June 2015

The Carmignac Foundation presents an exhibition of work by the Iranian photographer Newsha Tavakolian, 5th winner of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award. Curated by Anahita Ghabaian, President of the 2013 Jury, the exhibition will take place at the Chapelle des Beaux-Arts de Paris from 13 May to 7 June 2015.

Newsha Tavakolian’s reportage focuses on the feeling of claustrophobia experienced by the younger generation in Iran. Taking as their common thread the theme of a family photo album, her photographs depict young middle-class people caught between the contradictory pressures of an increasingly modern society and an Islamic revolutionary ideology.

A book will be published by Kehrer Verlag to mark the exhibition.

Extracts from the book "Blank Pages of an Iranian Photo Album"

"The family photo album is the showcase for my generation. The yellowed albums and the pictures of smiling children dressed up in their best clothes are testament to our hopes and dreams, but they end in blank pages, and the moment when our parents stopped taking our pictures […]

For me, Iran is the country where I was born. I went to school here, started my career, and never left. As a photographer I have always struggled with how to perceive my society, with all its complexities and misunderstandings. For this project, I have decided to continue the photo albums of my generation. To add the pictures that were never taken of the way that life is for them now, grown-up. I followed nine people who in a sense define this generation. They are interchangeable, thus representing many. This photo album is theirs; it is my vision of life in Iran now, unromantic and confined. Those who feature on the pages are interchangeable, placed randomly in the natural installation of what is and can be their daily lives.

I began by collecting some childhood snapshots from their own family albums. After that I took a series of pictures that show their lives today, like reportage. They are not necessarily present in these images, but the pictures illustrate the way they live in the four corners of the megalopolis that is Tehran.

I have brought them to a mountain overlooking Tehran, Iran’s capital […] In this messiness I have asked them to find their own space, even though it may not be much bigger than their own two feet. Contrary to all the other images, these nine portraits are staged.

Now, what matters to me is that this work communicates the feelings some have here in Iran. These images will not change anything, nor will they help anybody. What I hope is that they visualize a generation marginalized by those speaking in their name."

About Newsha Tavakolian

Newsha Tavakolian was born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran. A self-taught photographer, Newsha began working professionally in the Iranian press at the age of 16, at a local newspaper in Tehran. At the age of 18, she was the youngest photographer to cover the 1999 student uprising, which was a turning point for the country’s blossoming reformist movement and for Newsha’s career as a photojournalist; a year later she joined New York-based agency Polaris Images. In 2002 she started working internationally, covering the war in Iraq for several months. She has since covered regional conflicts, natural disasters and created social documentaries in countries worldwide. Her work is published in international magazines and newspapers such as Time Magazine, Newsweek, Stern, Le Figaro, Colors, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and National Geographic. Her artwork has been exhibited in renowned museum’s worldwide, such as the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert, The Boston Museum of Fine Art and LACMA. She is participating to the 2015 Venice Biennale where she will present a video installation created during her project for the Carmignac Photojournalism Award.

About the Carmignac Photojournalism Award

The Carmignac Foundation launched the Carmignac Photojournalism Award in 2009 with the aim of supporting and celebrating photojournalism. This unique award funds an emerging photographer to visit areas of the world at the centre of geostrategic conflicts, where human rights and freedom of speech are often violated. The award is distinct from other photography prizes due to its emphatic global concern and specific geographical focus, which changes annually. Previous themes include Gaza, Pashtunistan, Zimbabwe and Iran. The theme for the 6th award is Lawless areas in France.

A key aim of the award is to support the winning photojournalist by providing a global platform for their work to be seen and collected. The Carmignac Foundation collaborates with the winner throughout the entire project by financing a monograph and curating an international touring exhibition. The Carmignac Foundation also commits to purchasing four photographs from the winner’s portfolio, which then enter Carmignac’s prestigious art collection.

Winners of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award include Kai Wiedenhöfer (Gaza – 2009), Massimo Berruti (Pashtunistan – 2010), Robin Hammond (Zimbabwe – 2011), Davide Monteleone (Chechnya – 2012) and Newsha Tavakolian (Iran – 2013).