Landscape - NOMINEE: sana Ahmadizadeh

I live in Ahvaz. The most polluted city in the world and an oil-rich and industrial city in Khuzestan Province. Ahvaz is at the peak of its environmental crisis due to drought in the wetlands, Karun river water transmission, and dust storms; the city which respiratory patients’ data are still classified. Dust storms have increased respiratory diseases mortality and immigration from Ahvaz since 2002. In addition to the internal sources of dust, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are also two main sources of particulates. This environmental crisis has become more complicated considering economic pressures brought about by re-enforced nuclear sanctions on Iran by the United States, increased diplomatic tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the lack of cooperation of the Arab countries in the region. I left Ahvaz in 2017 on the advice of doctors due to my respiratory illness. These images reflect the days when breathing have become a bitter and painful experience for me. I went to northern Iran where my mother took refuge 36 years ago after the Iran-Iraq war break out and bombardment of her city; a war which effects are still visible in my mother’s life. Getting away from my spouse, the sense of suspension in my personal life, and the inevitable similarities of my life and my mother’s life created a new world for me, in which an unceasing flow of associations was formed. “A Place to Live” is a personal journey about my emotions and relationships with the environment where I stayed until partial improvement of my health, an environment that reminds me two generations of displaced people. This is a long term series and I intend to picture my personal experiences affected by this environmental crisis, whose impacts could go beyond the geographical boundaries of Iran.
captions:
1-Tears of my mother ( Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)
2- Dust storm (Ahvaz, Iran, 2018)
3- Dark Caspian Sea ( Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)
4- The martyr ( Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)
5- Foggy forest (Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)
6- out of breath (Ahvaz, Iran, 2018)
7-“Suspended roots” (Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)
8- Latent (Ahvaz, Iran, 2018)
9- Emigration” (Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)
10- Iranian carpet” (Gilan Province, North of Iran, 2018)

About author:
Sana is Socialdocumentary photographer who lives in Ahvaz and working as freelance now and focusing more on her own personal work.

Selected Award
2020- Honorable Mention of the 15th “Julia Margaret Cameron” Award ( International Award for Women photographers), New York.



2019- Shortlisted for IWPA AWARD (International Women in Photo Award), Paris, France.

2019- finalist, Caminos de Hierro” International photo festival and Exhibition, Spain.

2018- Finalist, 18nd “Once photo contest festival (XVII A World for All: Overcoming Disabilities), Spain.

2017- Receive “Ali hoveysi Grant” (independent Iranian photography Grant), Ahvaz, Iran.

2017- First place, photofestival and Exhibition baghche academy, Ahvaz, Iran.
Group Exhibitions:
2019- Ninth Sheed Award Photography Exhibition (Independent Award for Social Documentary photography), Silkroad Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2019- Annual Photography Exhibition, Isfahan Photo Club, Contemporary of Art Museum, Isfahan, Iran.
2019- Photography Exhibition at the railwaystation,“ The First line” Ahvaz, Iran.
2018- “228" Photography Exhibition, Silkroad Gallery, Tehran, Iran.

Online publications:

2020- Landscape Stories Magazine, VOL. 30.
2019- Herfe Honarmand Magazine, VOL. 72.

Saana.ahmadi@yahoo.com
http://sanaahmadizadeh.com/