Photography As A Tool For Social Change – A Conversation With Aria Shahrokhshahi
The moral uses and questions surrounding photography are no stranger to debate.
Famous critics from Berger to Sontag have raised countless questions regarding the medium, throwing its role as the all-pervading eye of justice into serious disrepute. Yet despite the popularity of many of these critics’ concerns, as well as photography’s undoubtedly increasing ambivalence in our age of digital saturation and Instagram-induced anxiety, there are still those who hold dear to the medium’s potential to do good and in doing so, continue to produce boundary-pushing work which indelibly serves a social purpose that few other media can attain.
British-Iranian documentary photographer and all-round stellar human being Aria Shahrokhshahi is one such person. Wielding his camera as a weapon to relentlessly and honestly document everything from international politics and crises to personal relationships and subcultures, Aria’s work spans the private, public and everything in between. Yet within its diversity, themes of social justice and a meditative, insightful eye for showing his audiences vital and important aspects of contemporary society remain consistent and present throughout.
Growing up in Nottingham, Aria has since lived a slightly nomadic lifestyle, residing in and travelling several countries and continents, and taking with him a sense of explorative inquisition and a determination to depict and document what he sees as important. From commercial work for ChildLine to a more personal project helping to fundraise for treatment for a friend’s eye condition, Aria’s portfolio does about as much as possible to dispel previous critiques of the redundancy of photography as a social tool.
We spoke with Aria about photography’s power as a means of documenting the social and political, as well as his beginnings in the medium and what it means to document the “normal as beautiful.”
Hey Aria, how’s it going? Could you give Sabakuru a quick introduction to you and your work?
Hey, My name is Aria Shahrokhshahi, I'm a British-Iranian documentary photographer and filmmaker. My work thus far has focused on a variety of topics, from my relationship with my parents and the DIY skating community to the refugee crisis and, most recently, a friend of mine who is losing his sight. I currently live in London. I like long walks by the canal, leather jackets, and peanut butter is my favourite food.
How did you get into photography and what or who inspired you to do so?
When I was 13/14 I got myself a DSLR to start making little films. The first one I made was called "This Is Iran” and was about being Iranian, the culture and my frustration of how it was portrayed on the news. I've always enjoyed telling stories and trying to communicate how I feel about something and, to be honest, photography and film-making were just another way for me to do that. I started in film but found that I was able to tell the same stories but make them more accessible through photography.
Being British-Iranian, would you say that your specific cultural heritage has shaped your approach to your work?
I think being Iranian, growing up in an Iranian household, speaking Farsi, listening to Persian classical music, eating Persian food and, most importantly, visiting Iran has not only had a dramatic impact on my work but every part of my being and my life. I love Iran and trying to put into words how much of an effect it has had on me is very difficult, but what I can say is that it's given me a whole different perspective on life, culture, religion, art - on everything - and I'm so grateful to have had that experience.
You seem to travel a lot and have lived in a lot of distinct and interesting places over the last few years. How has travel played in your practice as a photographer and what attracts you to different places?
I think it plays into who I am as a person and therefore plays into who I am as a photographer. I've just always had a fascination with different kinds of people, cultures and places, so the best option to stimulate that is travel. There are very few things in life as emotionally fulfilling as travelling; being able to connect and learn with all kinds of different people from all over the world is something I've always loved. Also, as cliche, as it sounds, the camera is a "passport" to the outside world which you may not know much about. In some way, it validates and solidifies your reason for being in a space when being nosey isn't a good enough excuse.
Your work documents and addresses a lot of pertinent issues, both societal and personal, from your work documenting refugee camps to your charitable project raising money for your friend’s eye surgery. How important of a role do you think photography plays in addressing and shedding light on issues like these?
I think photography can and should in a lot of cases be used as a tool for social change. If you can educate someone on a topic or change someone's mind on what you view to be an ignorant opinion, then I think you should try your best. The same goes for helping someone. When we finally reach the goal for my friend Kalidou, as a community, we will have truly changed someone's life, and I think being able to use photography as the vehicle for that is truly beautiful and something I'm always grateful for.
Along with social and political issues, your photography does amazing work to document unfamiliar and often overlooked people and ways of life, from Brazilian suburbs to American nomads living off-grid. What is it that draws you to people and places like these and how do go about beginning to document them?
One thing I find amazing about the work of people like Alec Soth, Mitch Epstein, Carolyn Drake, and Diana Lixenberg is their ability to make the normal fascinating. I think for me, it isn’t always about finding the most detached group from society (although that plays a part sometimes) but about making the "normal" beautiful. In a place like Brazil, the "obvious" choice for a lot of people would be to go to the favelas, but what are you adding to the conversation? I would find portraits of normal, working people in the suburbs far more insightful.
Now, that point may seem a bit hypocritical as you mentioned the series of images I made of the nomad's in the Arizona desert, but that project started with a good friend of mine, Jax, who lives out of a school bus. We were doing a road trip together at one point and stopped at the nomad spot so Jax could see some of his friends. I found the whole thing fascinating; people from all different financial, ethnic and religious backgrounds choosing to live away from society but all having one thing in common: they live in the vehicles, and that's all that matters for them, nothing else.
It's pretty wonderful. In terms of how I go about documenting people, I suggest getting everyone who’s involved contact details, showing them the pictures you take, explaining your intentions and just asking! That's pretty much it, I think. Oh, and smile lots!
These themes of unearthing stories and covering marginalised people run into some of your commercial work too, particularly regarding your project with Child Line. Is your paid work informed by the same set of principles and interests as your more personal projects?
I try to apply a lot of the core fundamentals of my documentary work into my more commercial work. Of course, there are briefs to follow and people to please but I like to think that when someone is commissioning me to make work, they are doing so with even a vague understanding of my core values within photography and film-making in mind, as well as my previous work, so they are using me for those reasons, you know?
As someone myself who has grown up in a relatively small city in the East Midlands and has an ambivalent relationship with the area, I’m curious as to how being from Nottingham has shaped your work as a creative, especially given the London-centric nature of the UK’s creative industries.
Damn, these questions are good, proper detective vibes! Where to start! I mean, growing up in Nottingham to me, it's shaped who I am as a person. On the surface, one could just consider it another industrial mining/manufacturing town but for me, it provides things you just don't get in other parts of the country. There is still a real sense of community and, you know, when I lose my keys, I just go round to the neighbour's house for a cup of tea and a chat. Likewise, when anyone in my neighbourhood needs something, they know all they need to do is ask and people will try their best to help. In terms of work, there is work in Nottingham but sadly the hub for now is, and will be for a while, London. When I say work, I mean commissioned work! Nottingham is a perfect place for a personal project. There are endless amounts of stories and communities to dive into and that's another reason I love the city so much. Its sheer diversity of people and cultures means that growing up there was and still is incredibly rich for a young person to experience.
Having mentioned your work around more socio-political issues and areas of work earlier, I’m eager to highlight the eclectic nature of your work and how it spans fashion, music and more candid street photography too. Do you have a favourite area or style to work within?
Although I like to dabble in most kinds of photography, my heart will always lay with "new" (post 60's) documentary photography. Maybe not in the strictest sense but its how I feel storytelling can be best conveyed. I feel documentary photography allows you to be far more nuanced and gentle with the work; you don't have to scream things, it can be for the viewer to find and notice the smaller details themselves. Furthermore, I think the most important is the ability to tell a story. A series of images, like sequenced narratives of landscapes and still-lifes, portraits and found objects, paintings, drawings, collages, etc. gives you that. I feel like it gives you more leeway.
Collaboration is often a very fruitful venture for creatives and this certainly seems to ring true for your frequent and distinct collaborations, particularly with others in the wider photographic community. Is there anything, in particular, that you look for when working with others in your field?
Recently I've been looking at collaborating with loads of different artists: poets, sculptors, screen printers, colourists, directors, collage makers. I love when you can collaborate with someone that has a different way of approaching art or photography. They spend years honing their craft and bring the knowledge they can share as well as thoughts and perspectives you may not have thought about. Anyone who’s work I like, I'm essentially very keen and open to working with them to some degree if we can make it happen!
A new decade has just begun and we’re excited at Sabakuru to see what work exciting and prolific creatives like yourself have planned. Do you have anything in the pipeline that you can give us a brief insight into?
Such kind words, thank you! Well, this viral outbreak has put everything on hold but I hope to be making a few mixed media projects and maybe a little bit of travelling at some point!
Thanks Aria, take care!
About the author
Edward John is a London-based writer who specialises in arts and culture and is particularly interested in where this intersects with politics and social issues. He is currently studying an MA in Media & Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London and freelances as a copywriter, as well as a contributing writer and editor for a number of independent publications.
