Collection
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Arts of the Islamic World

The Loss of Our Identity #1 (Boy)

Sadegh Tirafkan

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Sadegh Tirafkan explores the layering of traditional and modern Iranian culture and the conflicts between Iranian and western culture in his photographs, collages, and video installations. In this photograph, the first portrait in a series entitled The Loss of Our Identity, the artist presents the viewer with a portrait of an Iranian youth in a white T-shirt with headphones, both attributes of western culture. His eyes, however, are hidden beneath a superimposed “curtain” created from a reproduction of a battle scene illustrated in a Qajar period Persian lithographed book. The image seems to question the deterioration of traditional Iranian culture in the face of an increasingly superficial world driven by new media.

Caption

Sadegh Tirafkan (Iranian, 1965–2013). The Loss of Our Identity #1 (Boy), 2007. Chromogenic photograph, 43 x 35 in. (109.2 x 88.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1913-1914, Museum Collection Fund, by exchange, 2008.51. © Sadegh Tirafkan. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

The Loss of Our Identity #1 (Boy)

Date

2007

Medium

Chromogenic photograph

Classification

Photograph

Dimensions

43 x 35 in. (109.2 x 88.9 cm)

Credit Line

Museum Expedition 1913-1914, Museum Collection Fund, by exchange

Accession Number

2008.51

Rights

© Sadegh Tirafkan

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Artists and makers

Sadegh Tirafkan

1 work in the collection