Red Zone | Jalal Sepehr
GPP Photo Week | Outdoor Installation
One of the region's longest running photography festivals, GPP Photo Week champions photography as a visual medium which engages audiences in dialogue while providing unique opportunities to share nuanced perspectives and alternative histories. The core of the festival is educational, with workshops, talks and masterclasses that shape and inspire tomorrow's visual storytellers.
Each year the festival begins with an exciting evening unveiling multiple new photography exhibitions in Dubai's cultural district, Alserkal Avenue. Jalal Sepehr's work was a highlight in the 2018 festival as his Red Zone series was exhibited in a large scale format on exterior warehouse walls within the Yard; a central gathering point for the gallery district. I was responsible for the selecting, curating, and producing this exhibition in addition to four other exhibitions for the festival including works by Laura El-Tantawy, Khalik Allah, and Osborne Macharia.
About the artist
Jalal Sepehr in an Iranian artist born in Tehran in 1968, where he still lives and works. A self-taught photographer, he began taking pictures in 1994 while living in Japan (1991-96). Sepehr’s work has been featured in over eighty photography festivals, competitions, and collective exhibitions in and outside of Iran.
Sepehr’s series Red Zone reflects upon the turmoil faced by those living in the Middle East and elswhere. Taking various forms, Sepehr’s symbolism attends to the challenges facing asylum seekers, the effects of war, and the process of endless emigration.
See more of Jalal's work here.
