An artist book by Mani Nejad presenting a documentary and material collection of the ephemeral nature of reality, time and its particular form of instantaniousness. The visual track, represented by the eye of the camera, evolves from the idea of getting hold of and freezing the otherwise invisible phenomenon of the present represented in a small fracture of time and that specific „mood“ of the moment.

On a closer look we realize that the photographic image is complex matter, especially with regard to aspects of time and place. Walter Benjamin examined this issue in depth and gave insight that is still valid today. Excerpts of his seminal text „the artwork in the age of technical reproduction“ therefore complement this publication and set the tone for the book’s theme and approach.

Mani Nejad takes the camera as a tool to describe and dissect the essentials of hierarchies of the images we expreience around us, be it landscapes, urban patterns or objects of everyday use. His unique sense for atypical views enables him to document common situations in unfamiliar ways and bring life to seemingly deserted and inconspicuous sites. It is not the grand narrative that captures his attention. It is rahter the hidden beauty of hallways, a niche, or the rear-view of a building.

Frequently he takes close-ups of his motifs and focuses on enclosed spaces. He pays special attention to inconspicuous and forgotten spaces. Where ordinary people believe to see nothing is where the work of Mani Nejad starts and – with a surprise – unfolds a life of its own. Often, surrealist scenes suggest a hidden meaning and likewise, the angled views of interior spaces appear to contain a secret code through the presence of certain particular details.

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