Arash Hanaei (b.1978, Iran, Tehran), lives and works in Paris. He studied photography at Azad University, Tehran where he focussed on the work produced during the Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. His practice combines mediums and techniques, in addition to amateur photography, to create a ‘vernacular’ of image making in the tradition of photo documentary. His series Recreational Areas (2008) and Capital (2009) demonstrate the productive interference between digital design and photographic memory. The first explores an ironic perspective on the isolation of individuals and the repression of desire, whilst the second is intended as a map of the city of Tehran, questioning the transformation of public space post-war (notably the paradoxical coexistence of frescoes of martyrs and advertising slogans). Hanaei's work has been presented in several solo exhibitions including ‘Suburban Hauntology’ at Les Rencontre de la photographie d’Arles, France and ‘Capital Complex’ at the MINI/Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies, New York, curated by Nina Tabassomi.