SECRET OF WORDS

Sadegh Tirafkan was a persevering artist who navigated through time, culture, history, and memory in search of his place and identity as an Iranian man in the contemporary world. Photography became his primary medium for constructing powerful visual narratives, combining carefully staged elements with layers of symbolism.

The significance of symbolism throughout Tirafkan’s practice stems from his Persian cultural heritage, where direct dialogue is often replaced by symbolic language. How does one communicate the complexities of a culture with thousands of years of history, rich traditions, and a predominantly male-dominated social structure? Tirafkan explored these questions through numerous self-portraits and portraits of friends, repeatedly staging himself and others in the studio to investigate what it means to be a contemporary Iranian.

As Tirafkan once explained, “I began photography by recording what surrounded me. Now I take what is around me in…