Shirana Shahbazi
author · photographer
Shirana Shahbazi is an Iranian-born photographer based in Zurich, Switzerland, known for her conceptual photography that often explores the intersection of photography, painting, and traditional crafts like Persian carpet weaving. Born in Tehran in 1974, she moved to West Germany in 1985 and later studied photography and design in Dortmund and Zurich. Her notable early work, 'Goftare Nik/Good Words' (2001), explores the quotidian moments of Iranian life, often transforming her photographs into wall-sized paintings or woven carpets. Shahbazi's practice is characterized by a focus on the constructed nature of photographic meaning, using commercial sign painting and geometric abstractions to challenge the medium's representational limitations. Her work has been exhibited globally, including at the Venice Biennale (2003) and in major collections such as the MoMA and Tate Gallery of Modern Art.[1,2]
- quotidian moments
- Iranian culture
- geometric abstraction
- constructed meaning in photography
- commercial sign painting
- Persian carpets
Works by Shirana Shahbazi
- 2001 Goftare Nik / Good Words Includes 47 photos; first successful sequence of color photographs taken in Iran.
- 2007 Meanwhile Combines images of landscapes, portraits and still lifes with large-format paintings and carpets.
- 2014 Monstera
- 2017 Shirana Shahbazi: First Things First
Exhibitions
- 2008 Hammer Projects: Shirana Shahbazi
- 2003 Goftare nik, Good words
- 2007 Meanwhile
- 2007 Meanwhile
- 2014 Monstera
- 2026 Shirana Shahbazi. All at Once. An Interplay with Li Tavor
Awards
- 2002 Fotopreis der Deutschen Börse
- 2019 Prix Meret Oppenheim