Photo Graffiti

Years ago, we were filming a movie in not so new places such as old noble mansions and sites or a factory which had fell out of work.

What grabbed my attention were the curiously intriguing patterns which had formed by the coarse and brittle lashes of wind, rain and snow on the walls of these ruins through time. Also, the crude writings on these walls naturally demonstrated a kind of aesthetics based on human whims of self-expression and a desire to leave something abiding behind. These writings, though destructive of the walls, somehow seemed artistic and at times creative, free from all previously-defined conventions.

This was the beginning of a path about which I thought a lot with the title “The Beauty of Destruction” in mind.

On this path, during several trips to different places in the world, I came to know the diverse and artistic manifestations of street art, notably graffiti, with a clear affinity to what I had previously in mind.

I confess that at the time I couldn’t resist the thrilling, egotistical whim to intervene and make alterations in these unassuming writings and outlines.

Indeed, the wondrous possibilities and the captivating magic of digital technology, which I obstinately refused for a long time, became a tool in constituting the narrative in the present series. As an example, selecting and juxtaposing parts of the Berlin Wall, which I had photographed in 1989, led to the shaping of a new piece – from this largest graffiti in all history – which did not exist before.

— Mahmoud Kalari

Translated by Parisa Hakim Javadi