Photo Riahi

“Photo Riahi” is a collection of photographs from the archive of a photo studio in the suburb of Lavasan, compiled into a book by Bahman Kiarostami based on genre along with two interviews. Bahman Kiarostami (b. 1978, Tehran, Iran) is a documentary film director who has spent some of the last five years building a house in the mountain village of Barg Jahan. Much of the actual building was done by a team of Afghan men led by Rahman Atai, who announced one day that he was leaving work early for a photoshoot. Kiarostami joined him and met a team of Afghan brothers on motorbikes who create portraits of workmen photoshopped against surreal landscapes. When the brothers skipped town, Atai noted that they weren’t the best team around. In terms of portrait quality and design, Photo Riahi in Lavasan has been the top choice for the past two decades. Kiarostami interviewed Mohammed Khazrai, the grandson of the founder, and his mother, Mrs Riahi, who fell in love with photography as a girl and who persuaded her husband and son to join her in the business. Her gentle use of color and the early magic of Photoshop drew a flood of customers to their studio.