Born in Tehran in 1974, Shirana Shahbazi moved to Germany when she was a child. Today she is based in Zurich.

Trained as a photographer, Shahbazi shoots images –including portraits, still lifes and landscapes – and often uses them as source material not only for photographs but also for paintings, billboards or handmade carpets.

By altering the scale and transposing the imagery into a new medium or a style associated with another culture, she subverts viewers´ expectations and explores the complexity of identity.

Lavishly illustrated, the publication focuses on Shirana Shahbazi’s photographic works with essays by Kate Bush, Gianni Jetzer and Ali Subotnick.

Published in collaboration with the Barbican Art Centre, London and the Swiss Institute, New York on the occasion of Shahbazi’s show at the Curve at Barbican Art Centre, London from 4 October 2007– 20 January 2008.

Shahbazi won the London Citibank Prize in 2002 and participated in the Venice Biennale in 2005.