In his mostly installative works, photography often becomes an independent theme and motif and takes on correspondingly unusual forms. The focus is, for example, on the chemical-optical properties of photography, such as the light sensitivity of analogue materials, or the technical standards, such as the image formats made up by brand-leading manufacturers, but also on the metaphorical readability of photography as a shadow or vessel. Hessam Samavatian picks up on the symbolism of terms such as "candela" or focuses on moments that are different from the "decisive moment", such as that moment when the light passes through the camera lens and brings an image of the outside world into the camera interior. But he also plays with the rules of the art market, with prominent role models, cultural traditions, literature and much more, and in doing so knows how to place the respective repertoire in new and current contexts.

Artistic research, technical expertise and repeated experiments produce calculated, media-specific and at the same time poetic and varied works that can always directly address the viewer. As a native Iranian who has lived in Vienna since 1998, Hessam Samavatian repeatedly finds himself confronted with the cultural differences between the European and Persian/Iranian worlds of thought; he compares their scientific contributions to optics and links elements of these diverse traditions in his works.

born in 1984 in Tehran, Iran, lives and works in Vienna

2011-2017 Studies of Fine Arts / Photography (Prof. Gabriele Rothemann) at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, diploma with distinction

2009-2011 Studies of Art and Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

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