Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth

In Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth, Iranian artist Amin Yousefi rephotographs images from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, isolating moments when protesters direct their gaze back towards the photographer. Through rephotographing, cropping, and magnification, these images examine the relationship between photographer and subject, complicating the conventional one-way relationship between the observer and the observed. Sharing these exchanged looks with the viewer, Yousefi extends questions regarding the relationship between photography and revolution in the present.

At Ibraaz, Yousefi’s conceptual and technical work on image-making catalyses a conversation between the photographer and his long-time collaborator David Campany. Together, they interrogate what it means to look, and to look back, and create materials that enable such engagement. Both speakers will consider the photograph as a two-sided encounter between subject and photographer, in which the return of the gaze is able to destabilise conventional ideas of photographic authority.

Doors open at 5.30pm; event starts at 6pm and ends at 8pm. 

Image credit: Amin Yousefi, Untitled, from Eyes Dazzle as They Search for the Truth, 2023.