Press & Essays
‘Freedom in the Finite’
Artiq Annual, words by Molly Coffey
February 2024
It’s always been the nature of artists to reflect the times in which we live. Molly Coffey speaks to two artists who, in their own ways, have found producing art and cherishing the environment needn’t be at odds
At first glance, the work of Rebecca Newnham and Cyrus Mahboubian appear vastly different. Rebecca, based in the Southwest of England, creates faceted glass works, some stretching up to seven metres tall. Cyrus, based between London and Oxfordshire, known for his contemplative approach to photography, makes black-and-white photographs of remote landscapes with vintage Polaroid film to create a timeless, atmospheric aesthetic. Distinct in medium and materiality is their art, and yet striking parallels can be drawn between their practices, as I found out, when I sat down for a conversation with them last November. We settle into a spot amongst the open-brick archways of Cyrus’s studio, Maison Pan, the once National Gallery vaults turned artist-run studios and project space, which the British-Iranian artist now co-directs. Amid a variety of artworks spanning painting and sculpture, is an elegant curation of Cyrus’s works hung in his distinctive style. The original black and white polaroids sit within wide white mounts and black frames, provoking intrigue within the viewer. You must get closer, nose almost touching the glass, to observe the landscape captured with a grainy vintage film. A masterful eye and not only for that within frame; Cyrus has curated his works with reverence for both subject and artwork. His small prints are given a mystical quality, each piece with space to breathe accompanied by the aroma of scented candles.
… To read the full-length article, please follow this link.
Extract from an essay by Piero Tomassoni, written on the occasion of solo exhibition ‘About Time’
May 2022
Cyrus Mahboubian has always seen the concept of time as central to his work. Both thematically, with regards to what his pictures are and represent, and in terms of the way he conducts his practice. The latter is an ideological (oppositional) deceleration. He deliberately chooses to limit himself to a small number of shots per day, in order to distance himself from the permeative collective neurosis of capturing hundreds of images at a time thanks to digital apparatus (cameras and phones). This radical, reactionary practice is aided by the use of old polaroid film as his elective support; the film is no longer in production, therefore inherently scarce, and its ageing immediately conveys the impression of a vintage photograph. Similarly, the iconography of his works defy any temporal determination. The landscapes of Dorset, Oxfordshire, Cornwall, are, in Mahboubian’s photographs, the same as five hundred, or ten thousand, years ago.
His nudes, sculptural, echoing the levigated shapes of Henry Moore, and the milk-like skin of the women in the ‘Arabian Nights’, are archetypal forms deprived of any specific connotation. In many cases, the generic can be more intense than the specific. In Persian and Arabic literature one can find examples of men falling in love by hearsay, of a general type more than of a particular individual. To hear the description of a queen - the flowing hair similar to the night, the face akin to a day of delight, the breasts like ivory spheres - could make one fall in love to the point of apathy and death.
This ability of the artist to escape temporal and spatial plans is further enhanced by the use of the ‘composite’, a meticulous combination of two or more parts of different polaroids. The composite generates an ulterior image which is entirely a product of the artist’s imagination, falling outside of the times and places of the original pictures. In these, bodies become minerals, trees become rivers, England becomes Italy. Time becomes an even stranger substance, with the passionate and extreme light of dusk morphing into sunrise through the tentacular forms of wild vegetation.
In Mahboubian’s photos, existence is not fixed in the punctiform actuality of a static present: it manifests itself in its ‘originary temporality’.
‘Cyrus Mahboubian’
Matters of the Art podcast interview
November 2021
In this episode, Tali Zeloof talks to CYRUS MAHBOUBIAN…
Known for his atmospheric black and white Polaroids capturing rugged woodlands, sublime seascapes, mystical trees, and the male and female nude, Cyrus sources his subject matter from nature. She is his muse.
His photographs of remote landscapes are the result of long meditative walks in nature, where he trusts an internal creative compass rather than any prescriptive map.
… Listen to the podcast via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
‘Cyrus Mahboubian Reignites Our Love of Polaroids’
The Wick
March 2021
As a collector, curator, fair director, patron and philanthropist with more than 15 years of experience in collecting, curating and managing art fairs and projects, it’s fair to say that Kamiar Maleki has a considerable eye for talent. He was fair director of Contemporary Istanbul from 2016 to 2018, is the director of the VOLTA Art Fairs in Basel, New York and Miami and founder of the Institute of Contemporary Art Young Patrons in London.
Here Maleki shares why British-Iranian artist Cyrus Mahboubian and his contemplative approach to photography and continued use of analogue materials, especially Polaroids, caught his eye.
Maleki said: “As someone who has always championed young artists’ work, my speciality was never in photography. Being introduced to Mahboubian’s work a few years ago, I instantly fell in love with his intricate use of Polaroid. His simple yet complex technique of physically manipulating his photographs – cutting and collaging different landscapes together to create imaginary compositions, makes his works special and feel like a painting that one can immerse oneself in.”
… To read the full-length article, please follow this link.
‘The most stimulating things to see at Frieze this year’
Tatler, words by Maya Asha McDonald
October 2020
… For the chicest in-person experience, little can compete with the serene ambience created by leading art advisory firm Artvisor for their exhibition Polaroids/Composites, showcasing the delicate photographic works of coveted British-Iranian photographer Cyrus Mahboubian.
With his visceral polaroids collected by members of the Royal Family and a critically-acclaimed photobook launched last year at Sotheby’s, the glitterati are waiting with bated breath for what will be Mahboubian’s first major London solo show. ‘This will be a more intimate exhibition than most,’ shares Nico Epstein, one of the partners of Artvisor. ‘To enhance these painstakingly crafted works, we’ve averted the stark set-up of many contemporary galleries and situated them in an elegant, domestic context.’
Running from 9 October to 1 November by appointment only, photography aficionados can immerse themselves in Mahboubian’s black and white dreamscapes whilst basking in the tranquillity of the classically designed space.
… To read the full-length article, please follow this link.
‘The Dream Washes of Cyrus Mahboubian in Lockdown’
Unpolished Magazine, words by Maya Asha McDonald
May 2020
During the Bubonic plague, William Shakespeare wrote ‘King Lear’ and outlined the plots for future triumphs like ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ and his eventual masterpiece ‘Macbeth’.
Perhaps something can be said for imposed solitude and introspection to make the creative embers within a person ignite, producing an everlasting flame that will burn bright long after they’re gone.
For Cyrus Mahboubian, the London-based photographer, who in recent years has become a hot commodity, the isolation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic has amplified his ingenuity and broadened his oeuvre
With works previously displayed at the likes of Tristan Hoare Gallery (London,) Ekavart Gallery at the Ritz Carlton Hotel (Istanbul,) and Pitt Rivers Museum (University of Oxford,) one can expect that Post-Corona Mahboubian will resume his meteoric rise. Mahboubian, known for his sultry black and white polaroids that whisper of a deep reverence for both the human form and rugged landscapes has made use of his time in lockdown by experimenting with ways to make his practice more tactile. With the act of touching now so limited and often prohibited, the idea is both topical and erotic. As an emphasis on texture is already prevalent in his work, the smooth skin of a woman’s lower back, or the jagged, sea-worn edge of a rock face. His inclination to add another layer of touch seem to be a natural evolution.
With a sharp blade, steady hands, and a well-trained eye, Mahboubian cuts his atmospheric polaroids, often harvested from his archives, and joins them meticulously with another. Shadows fuse, lines bind, and a surreal dreamscape emerges. A ritual that results in a heady juxtaposition between soft and hard – warm and cold – feminine and masculine; composites in quarantine. While his foray with composites officially began in 2018, his time in lockdown has been a distinctly fruitful period, with Mahboubian honing this variation of his craft and releasing new composites with speed and conviction previously unseen.
… To read the full-length article, please follow this link.
‘An Interview with Cyrus Mahboubian’
Arteviste, interview by Flora Alexandra Ogilvy
November 2019
Arteviste: Describe the space within which you live and work?
CM: The vast majority of my work is made outdoors, with only natural light, immersed in nature. Having grown up in London, I use photography as an escape from the fast pace of life in a big city.
Arteviste: Do you have a routine or rituals you follow?
CM: I find walking very conducive to photography. Typically I will travel out into the countryside and walk for hours, carefully observing my surroundings. I actually make very few exposures, the process of walking and looking is the primary focus.
Arteviste: Please tell us about your recent publication ‘Viscera’?
CM: ‘Viscera’ is my first photo-book and it's a hardback limited edition of 250 copies. Since 2014 I’ve predominantly worked with a particular type of film and I feel I found my voice as an artist during this time. The photographs are polaroids - being small in scale, they have an intimate quality that I knew would work well as a book. Books are a wonderful way to experience photography; you can reflect on the images in a way you can't in a crowded gallery. The London book launch of ‘Viscera’ took place at Sotheby's in May, and I've had book signings at Whitechapel Gallery (during London Art Book Fair) and at Sketch in Mayfair…
… To read the full-length interview, please follow this link.
‘Cyrus Mahboubian / VISCERA’
Photomonitor, interview by Nico Epstein
August 2019
Mahboubian’s debut photo-book VISCERA was published in May 2019; below, Nico Epstein recently asked the artist about the background to this project.
Photomonitor: It is so important today to have something tangible. We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by digital experiences. Of course, photography itself often comes across now as being more digital than analogue. What I have always admired about your practice is the use of traditional photographic techniques and your eye for underused and underexposed (pun intended) film and its physical outcomes. The idea to make a photobook seemed like a natural progression for you. When did you come up with the idea and why did you decide on making it now?
CM: Books are a wonderful way to experience photography. Commercial art galleries can sometimes feel cold and impersonal, but you can sit with a book and take your time with it. You have this intimate one-on-one encounter with the work. I got into photo-books back when I was a student and first started to develop my practice. I would browse the books at The Photographers’ Gallery in London – and started collecting the classics, like Robert Frank’s The Americans – it was an important part of my education. I knew I didn’t want to rush making one, that it had to be the right body of work.
Photomonitor: When did you decide to start work on VISCERA?
CM: Last year, once I realised I had a body of work that felt representative of this early stage of my career. For the last five years, I’ve been predominantly working with a particular type of instant analogue film that is, sadly, no longer in production. Having found my voice as an artist using this film and drawing close to the end of my supply, it felt like a natural moment to publish the images.
Photomonitor: Speaking about the film — tell me about this type of film that you’ve used specifically for this book… How did you discover it and what drew you to it originally?
CM: I’ve been shooting polaroids since I first got into photography in 2006 while at university. The pleasure I felt watching the small-scale pictures manifest before my eyes – as if by magic – is something that has never left me. While I’ve refined my practice and trained my eye, I’m still smitten with polaroids because of their singularity, intimate scale and the tangible nature of the print…
… To read the full-length interview, please follow this link.
‘“Each Click of the Shutter Is Precious”: The Polaroid Artist Who Specialises in a Dying Medium’
Culture Trip, words by India Irving
August 2018
In the age of smartphones, taking a bad photo has zero consequences – if you don’t like what you see on the screen, you can just delete it and start over. But for Polaroid photographer Cyrus Mahboubian, who takes photographs on a type of film no longer available for purchase, every shot counts and one mistake is one less photo he can ever take.
We live in an Instagrammable world where everything is picture-worthy. People queue for hours to snap a photo pouting in front of a nondescript pink wall and cut into their benedict with painstaking care to capture that perfect #eggporn ooze.
Photography has mirrored the culture of excess. Everyone has a camera in their pocket at all times; everyone is a photographer. There are no limits to how many pictures you can take or to how much you alter them. But what if that wasn’t the case?
British-Iranian photographer Cyrus Mahboubian is faced with exactly that dilemma. He works with Polaroids and owing to his professional-standard instant film – also known as pack film or peel-apart film – being discontinued, he has only 60 photos left until his art practice changes forever.
The 32-year-old’s passion for photography was sparked 12 years ago. “When I was 20 my father gave me a Nikon he bought in Japan in the 1970s,” he says. “It was a really beautiful object in beautiful condition and I just fell in love with it.”
Mahboubian, then a student at the University of Bristol, took some photography classes and slowly taught himself to operate the fully manual, analogue device. A few months later, he bought a vintage Polaroid camera and his response to the process was as instantaneous as the photo: “I was hooked from the first exposure.”
Mahboubian still remembers the first image he ever shot on Polaroid. “It was a wintry day in Somerset,” he says. “It was really misty and I took a photograph of this abandoned barn. The Polaroid came out of the camera and I slowly watched the image manifest. A few minutes later, I was holding that photograph I had just shot in my hand. It’s incredible. I still experience that stimulation and I’ve never lost interest in that process. I find it special and magical.” Sparked by the instantaneous yet personal nature of the film, Mahboubian dove head first into his Polaroid practice, shooting a mix of rugged landscapes, seascapes and nudes. His 10.8cm x 8.5cm black-and-white photographs manage to be wild yet serene, making the viewer feel like a secret is being shared with them. This is partially due to his work’s small size, which draws you in to look closely and transports you into that tiny world.
… To read the full-length article, please follow this link.
‘These Beautiful Polaroids Are Casting a New Light on the Refugee Crisis’
Global Citizen, words by Imogen Calderwood
September 2017
Discarded lifejackets, crowds of people waiting at barbed wire fences, families packed into dinghies hoping to be rescued. These are the images that most of us see when we think of the refugee crisis. But a group of London artists are hoping to change that, with a photography series that offers a different perspective.
“I think because we live in London, we’re somewhat detached from what’s going on across Europe. There’s the scale of the crisis, but it’s also something that we are slightly oblivious to here, and when we do hear about it, it’s always the problems that are reported,” artist Cyrus Mahboubian, 31, tells Global Citizen.
“My feeling was always that it’s a reality and it’s something we should talk about in an open way. We want to inspire people to be engaged and have a conversation.”
Mahboubian is the co-creator of the series, entitled “Migrate”, along with Sandra Nuoramo, who he met through NEXTGen London — a committee of young people in London that works to raise awareness and funds for Unicef. The pair gave the eight photographers involved a very open brief — to explore global migration. The only rule was that the artists had to use Polaroid film, donated to the exhibition by film manufacturers, Impossible Project.
“Polaroids are on a small scale, so the photos feel really intimate and unlike other photographic media, each one is unique, there’s no back-up, so they feel precious. The artists are all very different so they all approached the project very differently. Some took it very literally, but some others have made more conceptual work,” says Cyrus.
“I went to Dover, because it’s geographically the closest point to Calais and northern France. But also it’s the main point of entry from mainland Europe. I thought there was an interesting duality of the White Cliffs because they’re something that we celebrate in the UK, but they take on a different meaning for me now in light of the refugee crisis. They’re a barrier.”
… To read the full-length article, please follow this link.
Monocle 24 Radio, interview about ‘MIGRATE’
August 2017
‘Moments in migration: Polaroids from the refugee crisis’
The Guardian, words by Polly Rodin
August 2017
Earlier this year, Unicef initiative NextGen asked eight photographers, including Jack Harries and Cyrus Mahboubian, to respond to the concept of human migration. “Living in London,” says Mahboubian, “we find ourselves largely detached from the ongoing refugee crisis, despite its staggering scale. I wanted us to inspire fellow Londoners to have a conversation about it.” For the project, called Migrate, the photographers used Polaroid cameras, and film supplied by The Impossible Project. By using instant, says Mahboubian, “the interaction with the subject becomes more personal, shooting fewer pictures, talking more”.
… To visit the full article, please follow this link.
‘Reimagining Film in 2017’
Loupe Magazine, words by Brian Oosthuizen
May 2017
Cyrus Mahboubian, a British-Iranian photographer, is an artist of note. He takes a thoughtful approach to his photography, manifest in his method and medium. In a culture becoming increasingly dependent on technological advances, Cyrus bucks the trend by utilising mostly instant film.
Cyrus writes about his approach to his subjects as follows:
“The act of taking photographs is a meditative experience. I’m not a ‘decisive moment’ photographer. I don’t set out to capture a moment in time, but rather a feeling; an atmosphere. It’s the story of time spent with another person, or alone in contemplation.”
As an instant film photographer, Cyrus might be expected to snap so-called moments in time, shooting and watching them develop instantly. Instead, Cyrus treats his subjects with thoughtfulness and consideration, an approach which often reveals itself in dark and thought-provoking images.
The subjects of his work are diverse, ranging from sensuous nudes to striking, bleak landscapes. Cyrus finds photographic inspiration in hidden, quiet locations where he can have an authentic experience with his surroundings. Perhaps this explains the stillness and depth that is evident in his photographs. He also speaks of his desire to create timeless images, a facet of his photography that is consistent across each subject, whether urban, rural, landscape or portrait.
It is worth dwelling more on one of the most distinctive and interesting aspects of Cyrus’ work – the medium. Cyrus shoots almost exclusively with polaroids. Reflecting on this, Cyrus writes:
“Polaroids are objects. Each one is unique and cannot be reproduced. I’ve always found the physical aspect an important part of photography and it’s something that is, generally speaking, being lost. With their singularity, immediacy, raw quality and small scale, polaroids give us insight into a very intimate world.”
On this he speaks adroitly. Film photography is a beautiful photographic niche and therein lies the relatively unexplored terrain of polaroid film. The immediacy is enticing and yet scary. Cyrus confronts this with integrity, meditating on and cultivating each photograph.
Cyrus mostly uses a now-defunct Fujifilm instant film, discontinued a number of years ago. Naturally, one laments such a loss. For the observer, this might add a certain nostalgia to Cyrus’ images. With the film stock only accessible to a limited number of people, the photographs become artefacts of a bygone era. When asked how he sees his work changing as older film stock runs out and new technology develops, Cyrus states:
“It's a great loss and a source of sadness for me… but I believe evolution is important for an artist, so I'll move on and experiment with different materials until I find something that enables me to materialise what I see in my mind's eye. There is some hope for film lovers; Impossible Project's film is getting better and there are a few other specialist producers cropping up, such as new55 from the States… In terms of my own work, I have a large-format camera that I'm yet to tackle. I think that'll be the next chapter of my art practice and I'm excited to develop it.”
Cyrus is correct – the photographic landscape is changing, and out of that change is growing an exciting generation of film photographers. Let us hope that Cyrus and artists like him are able to maintain the poetry of analogue photography in an ever-digitalising culture.
‘Highway 10’
Majestic Disorder Magazine, words by Kelley Mullarkey
January 2017
Uniting spatial awareness and a respect for nature, Cyrus’s forward- thinking-meets-nostalgic-appreciation offers a sincere insight into the world. His vision is an honest statement, but also a poetic one, capturing both wondrous backdrops and ordinary life at a pivotal time when human survival and longevity for our planet remain a serious matter.
A remarkable variety of texture, pattern and light, these photographs taken on the road set the tone for us to ponder and wonder how man is both a speck in the landscape and a part of it.
The cinematic mood and the influential force of Americanness that pours through each photograph narrates an exquisite beauty, but also a brewing forthcoming change on the long journey home.
Shooting the ‘Another River’ album cover with Alpines
video by Jason Baker
December 2016
‘ Cyrus Mahboubian : lieux d’être ‘
Le Salon Littéraire, L'Internaute, words by Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret
April 2016
Cyrus Mahboubian aime explorer des réalités d’absence qu’il recompose. Les femmes sont présentes à travers lieux et indices. Mais le voyeurisme se renverse : les photos sont assez énigmatiques pour laisser le doute sur savoir qui regarde qui... On ne sait plus si le lieu d’exploration est le véritable jardin de l’être ou s’il se transforme en zoo dans lequel cages et allées des visiteurs sont interchangeables.
La mémoire de l’instant et des lieux ne cesse de s’altérer. Les photographies de Cyrus Mahboubian semblent "simples". Pourtant rien de plus complexe que cette apparente simplicité. De quoi en effet les photographies de l’Anglais portent-elles la trace ? D’amours, de blessures et de joies ? Le tout s’en doute avec parfois une pointe d’humour, un clin d’œil. L’artiste poursuit une partie de cartes et de cache-cache afin de prendre par défaut le réel. La moindre photographie anodine (quelques palmiers californiens vus en contre-plongée) ruine les thesaurus, écarte les pensums affectifs afin de préserver ce qui fait l’essence même de sa quête : une fabrique d'images qui soulèvent plus des doutes que des certitudes.
‘ Murmur ‘
words by Alison Bignon, Paris-based artist and curator
April 2016
' murmur ' est la seconde exposition personnelle de l'artiste photographe anglais Cyrus Mahboubian; à la galerie Nivet - Carzon.
Après une première échappée dans l'atmosphère nostalgique et sensuelle de Los Angeles, rivée sur les recoins cachés de Mulholland Drive, l'artiste nous propose cette fois, un voyage photographique / initiatique en tension. La mer comme objet d'étude symbolique principale, comme objet mental, qui nous conte en détail la polyphonie musicale intérieure, propre à l'imaginaire de chacun.
La photographie devient abstraite, tire vers l'inconnue, malaxe notre imaginaire.
Cette exposition nous amène à visiter le " murmure " intérieur de Mahboubian, donnant lieu à une forme poétique fidèle à la liberté de rêverie de celui-ci.
‘ Cyrus Mahboubian, Murmur ‘
words by Jean-Paul Gavard-Perret, critique d'art et journaliste français
April 2016
Pour Cyrus Mahboubian, il n’existe pas d’images accomplies, arrêtées propres à satisfaire d’emblée le regard. L’Anglais procède non par un gonflement par accumulation mais par une forme de réduction pour faire jaillir de la précarité du quotidien banal une poésie. Il rappelle ainsi que la photographie est toujours une recherche de la vie.
Mais ce n’est pas simple et cela contraint de naviguer en eaux troubles— même dans la clarté d’une piscine. La femme est souvent objet d’un culte érotique où l’artiste plus que son « modèle » est en position de victime d’un genre très particulier qui répond à l’injonction de Baudelaire : « Je suis la plaie et le couteau / Et la victime et le bourreau ».
« Remontant » le réel de manière souvent minimaliste, Cyrus Mahboubian garde un rôle aussi ambigu qu’astucieux : il n’est pas sans lever des ambiguïtés tout en en laissant d’autres fermées. Chaque photographie semble une approche, une attente. Ajoutons que l’œuvre ne tient pas du simple aveu et du déboutonnage de l’intime. Voir devient un mélange du su et de l’insu. Tout le travail l’artiste tient donc dans cette traque de l’intervalle, de l’entre, ou tout se joue entre l’artiste et son sujet – femme ou paysage.
La photographie ne contribue plus à engendrer du fantasme ou à distribuer de la nostalgie. Elle demeure en amont de la perception et de la remémoration. S’inscrit non une errance mais une expérience là où quelque chose vibre et soulève afin de retrouver en nous l’image la plus naïve, la plus sourde : celle qui n’ajoute rien mais ne retranche pas plus. Au contraire.
‘Mulholland’
words by Megan Mulrooney, L.A.-based curator
October 2015
L.A. I love you, but I hate you, but then I love you all over again because you're all lines and palms, lines and palms... And, really, it makes you think about this linear quality that is so uniquely Los Angeles, a religion unto itself that makes its worship predictable and often so monotonous that you wonder if freeways actually lead anywhere or if the phone lines function beyond their aesthetic sensibilities. It's this monotony that blinds its viewers - not the heat of the suppressing sun that makes travellers sluggish and housewives tan. It's this monotony that crystallizes the silver screen with the same kind of women - you know the kind - skin- and-bone skeletons of human form, blonde hair and glistening tans from the infinity pools which overlook the canyons.
It's precisely this monotony that Mahboubian's lens captures. As a photographer, writer or artist we feel confined in Los Angeles, yet this confinement is voluntary. We are sun seekers, worshippers of the line, addicted to the beauty that linear perspectives afford us. The city that rose from dust and sets in the light. A city where taking home a nude doesn't mean a painting or a prostitute... Angelenos. Angels. Angles. Assholes. If you capture this feeling, you capture Los Angeles.
‘Mulholland: Polaroids from L.A.’
Suitcase Magazine, words by Kathryn Radin
October 2015
Towering phone lines and palm trees line the streets; swimsuit-clad, sun-soaked women line the poolsides— Los Angeles, the City of Angels, home to long stretches of freeways, beaches and dreamers. The idea and image of L.A. is familiar, whether you’ve lived there for twenty years or haven’t even stepped foot on its soil. It is the monotony of L.A. that so entraps those who live there and the lines and stretches that keep people moving forward, striving for the next bigger and better thing. Los Angeles gives an allusion that it never ends, that there’s always more to come; those who live there get sucked in to the idea.
Cyrus Mahboubian is a British artist based in London particularly known for his work with polaroid photography. Previously, his work has been featured in shows worldwide and he has taught workshops at Tate Britain and the The Photographers’ Gallery. Mahboubian’s latest project took him to Los Angeles, California where he shot the endless array of palms and phone lines that stripe L.A. streets. He equates the “emotional power” of polaroid photos to “a handwritten letter or a ticket stub”, as they are moments in time captured in physical form. He explained, “conceptually, the main thing for me is that polaroids are originals; each one is unique and, unlike other photography, isn’t printed later…Each photo can be thought of as an object that has travelled.”
These polaroids capture moments in a city that’s always speeding by. It freezes viewers in a dreamlike moment, the very type of dream that inspires people to seek out L.A. in the first place. The images epitomise fleeting moments of the ‘American Dream’, bottling up the heat of Californian sun, the sight of poolside beauties and the infamous palm trees that dot the city. The contemporary world and landscape is captured in a nostalgic, old school art form, highlighting the surreal nature of this town.
‘The Magic Portrait'
Soho Revue, words by Mohammad Miraly
April 2015
The reason Cyrus’s photographs are timeless is because he is able to step outside time’s barrier. The limited shots available in his ancient Polaroid camera means that he must do all he can to create the right conditions to get the best shot, which includes not only perfect lighting and staging, but also the psychological state of the subject. To foster the right state of mind, Cyrus manipulates time and nature: he takes you on a journey through the world’s beauty in order to inspire your internal stillness to reveal itself.
Whether it’s because he uses techniques now displaced or because of the depth of his own humanity, Cyrus is unique. He is out of step with the busyness of modern life, and that puts him askance to the norm. But, this gives him a rare perspective on the world. It’s the perspective of those who live in the province of the pensive, of those who deviate from the popular, and those who see things that others don’t.
Sky News feature about ‘Muse’ solo exhibition
September 2014
‘Muse’
words by Charles Johnstone, New York-based photographer
September 2014
Last year on a blustery fall day I walked into the bookstore at The Photographers’ Gallery, the largest public photography gallery in London. It was there that I first met the young British photographer Cyrus Mahboubian. Over coffee he showed me images of his work and I was not only very impressed, but I hired him on the spot to assist me on a project that I was working on in Italy.
All this brings me to his first solo show in the US, Muse, a series of stunning photographs of a young lady photographed against the backdrop of the English countryside. The work combines elements of the dreamy landscapes of seminal English painter John Constable, with the beautiful portraits of British photographer David Hamilton. But Mahboubian takes it one step further with a captivating series of double exposures that not only highlight his muse, but shower her in a mysterious aura. As interesting as these double exposures are, my favorite work in the exhibition is the diptych of his model walking away from him as if to say “yes, you are photographing me, but I will always have the last word,” as has been the case in the history of art between artist and muse.
This exhibition shows us an exceptional young artist at the beginning of his career. It will be exciting to see him go from strength to strength, after this auspicious debut in Los Angeles.
Majestic Disorder video about new developments in instant photography
January 2014
Video about a workshop taught at Tate Britain for Crossway Foundation
August 2013
‘1/1’
words by Jennifer Cavanagh, London-based editor and critic
March 2011
The prevalence of manipulated imagery can dull the impact of great photography. Brassai, Cartier-Bresson and Lange captured moments which astonished and provoked reflection. These and other photographers of their ilk inspired my love of the medium and I’ve recently struggled with contemporary work wondering how much is real and down to the eye of the photographer versus reformulation and computer enhancement.
So it is with great pleasure that I stumbled across Cyrus Mahboubian’s ‘1/1’ exhibit this week at The Tabernacle. This Notting Hill landmark never ceases to surprise me with events from African drumming to an intimate audience with Adele.
Mahboubian’s show is dedicated to the lost Polaroid format. The title ‘1/1’ references the unique one-off quality of his wok. The small gallery is hung with enlarged and smaller collage Polaroids highlighting layout and angle work.
In 2008 Polaroid discontinued the production of their film. As a Polaroid aficionado I was gutted to lose the instantaneous spontaneity of this medium. My own camera came from a road-side sale in rural France, holds a lot of good memories and still sits on a shelf in my home.
Mahboubian’s resurrection of this format seems particularly relevant in a time of manipulated news and messages in the media. His images are refreshing, and without time or place stamps allow the viewer to create their own story. It’s an exhibit with layers to consider, from the significant realness of the images to the importance of perception without manipulation and the beauty of “flaws” in an artist’s work. Pretty heady stuff for an emerging London artist in his 20s.
The lack of clarity in ‘Under Water’; the swimmer just below the surface is ephermeral, almost transparent, reflecting an impossible transient permanence beneath the weight of water. Turnpikes from a distance transport me along mundane repetitive journeys while a blurred tourist makes my imagination wander.
In an age of media manipulation this is a thoughtful, personal show that captures the stillness of reality and the passage of time, while reflecting the legacy of a format and, in the artist’s words, “making Polaroid relevant again in this digital age of photography.”
Clippings
… Cyrus Mahboubian, whose poetic black and white polaroids, slow in their creation given their rarity, are a refreshing antidote to the digital age.
— FAD Magazine, November 2019
The skill of his work and the effort of taking the time to find the right moment — sometimes hours — propels the pictures into the realm of the magical, making them otherworldly...
— If Looks Could Thrill blog, October 2014
He has established himself through the raw immediacy of his work, rejecting any digital retouching or manipulation...
— YAY! L.A. Magazine, September 2014
Cyrus Mahboubian can be described as one of London's most promising emerging artists. His evocative photography brings forth a unique blend of mystery, history and the essence of the land in one shot, leaving the audience truly captivated by an almost tangible emotional spirit.
— Emergeast, September 2014
In Cyrus Mahboubian’s show at De Re Gallery, two Polaroids of a model — young, brunette and perfect for some lusty film that Éric Rohmer might have made in the 1970s — have been scanned and enlarged. As a result, the girl's a little blown out, as is the greenery behind her, which creates just the right effect.
— L.A. Weekly, September 2014
His intimate Polaroids pictures, also shown in the exhibition, reveal the level of trust he developed with his model—a relationship forged through time, presence and nature.
— ArtBlitz L.A., September 2014
Cyrus reels in the fleeting and disposable nature of our world by delivering pure magic with each click of his camera.
— Majestic Disorder, 2013