​ ای کاش آدمی وطنش را

مثل بنفشه ها

 در جعبه های خاک

 یکروز می‌توانست

 همراه خویشتن ببرد

 *هر کجا که خواست

 

Present Elsewhere captures the memories of my homeland through the emulsion lift process, offering a visual narrative that reflects fluid and ever-changing memories. The images are surrealist distortions, drawn from my grandparent's house symbolizing the ambiguity and emotional weight of personal histories. By immersing photographs in water, I create a state of subconscious transformation that mirrors lingering and ever-evolving recollections. The project conveys the enduring impressions shaping our perceptions of home and identity, capturing the longing to carry one’s homeland, allowing it to persist and transform much like the delicate process of emulsion lifts that suspend and reshape memories.

​
 

*Translation of above poem*

 

The Migration of the Violets (excerpt)

by Mohammed-Reza Shafieh-Kadkani

 

I wish, I wish,

that on a certain day,

a person could take their motherland with them

like violets in dirt boxes,

wherever he wanted:

in the luminous rain

in pure sunlight.