Plateau x rooftops / Teheran
Photos
Drawings
Installation View
Rooftops of buildings in Teheran are used as semi-private, semi-public spaces. One can use them for putting satellite dishes, hanging washed clothes, or even have a romantic encounter there. Meanwhile people are visible from the neighbors, so they lack a real sense of privacy. These characteristics make them hybrid, in between places. In the crowded architecture of Teheran, these places stay most of the time empty even if they provide a fantastic view and practical flat surfaces. But behind this initial emptiness, there are sceneries to observe: a crow and a man sharing the same roof, two neighbors discussing, a man fixing the antenna, another one giving food to the birds...These spaces change to shelters; observatories to look at the micro-organisms of the city. Some people develop a parallel life to what they live everyday, up there; sometimes even choosing the roof as a place to live, not far from an old Iranian habit to sleep on the roof during the unbearable heat of summer. These photographs focus on the roofs as "plateaux", open platforms staging fragments of life.
The project took place during two trips to Teheran in March and October 2008. Going from one roof to another, in different neighborhoods of the city, a process started by sharing memories and spending time with the people I met during the trips. Going up on the roof to feel that there is nothing above our heads despite the mountains surrounding Teheran, offers us the possibility to move while staying on the same place in a reveries state of mind.
The rooftops have often similar appearances and elements: storage spaces, the pipes, air conditioners, chimneys, metal frames and fences but each has its own particularities: A circular form, turns to a balcony, a storage room in the center of the roof transforms into a live/work studio, a massive ladder stays in the house in order to provide an access to the roof and finally satellite dishes, which look alike big round watches.
Observing the way the people changed these unused spaces into a personal place, photographic journey began to unveil the relationship between the people and their self found spots, physically as well as mentally. Parallel to this process, a long correspondence started with the residents, projected through notes, diary, reflections, texts describing the place they live and their relationship with their surroundings. These documents also happened to be visually rich. These visual descriptions influenced the way photographer sets up a scenography in collaboration with the participants guiding her to choose most relevant point of view for her camera.