TEHRAN – A collection by veteran photographer Maryam Zandi featuring portraits of a number of Iranian music elites is on display in an exhibition at Tehran’s E1 Gallery.

 The collection, which is composed of 24 black and white photos, has been accumulated over a period spanning nearly 16 years, the gallery announced on Saturday.

Vocalists Mohammadreza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri, and tar virtuosos Hushang Zarif and Hossein Alizadeh, and maestro Farhad Fakhreddini are among those musicians who are pictured in the collection.

A large group of musicians attended the opening ceremony for the exhibition after which a documentary chronicling Zandi’s photo project was shown.

In addition, the last part of Zandi’s 5-volume book “Portraits” was unveiled at the ceremony. The book contains portraits of 117 figures in Iranian traditional and classical music. 

“I tried to take photos of most, but I lost the chance to meet some when they died unexpectedly as did Hassan Kasai and Mohammad Nuri,” Zandi said at the ceremony.

“I began with an analogue camera in 2001 and finished with a digital one in 2017. I took all the photos in my own atelier. I asked all musicians to put on white clothes so that all the photos would be in one specific format. Now that the project is over, I am satisfied with my efforts and the decision I made,” she added.

The exhibit will be running for one week at the gallery located at 1 Hamid Dead End, off Lesani Alley, Jebheh St., off Mahdieh St. in the Elahieh neighborhood.

Photo: Portraits of vocalist Shahram Nazeri (L) and several other musicians by Maryam Zandi are seen during an exhibition at Tehran’s E1 Gallery on December 22, 2017. (Honaronline/Saeid Rabiei)

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