Introducing Anoush Abrar as featured in All over the place! curated by William A. Ewing.
 
 

 
ANOUSH ABRAR lifts the oily sheen of Los Angeles, Hollywood, and celebrity culture and takes a picture. What results are images of aspiring actresses and models willing to bare it all, portraits of lifeless rich girls set in their native environments, and the Iranian-Jewish community of Southern California. “My photographic approach is sociologic,” he says. “The project is based on a simple fact: the path to celebrity.”
 
Abrar’s photographs convey a sense of discomfort—for the subject, for the viewer. And it’s this mutual feeling that makes the experience of looking at his images alluring. You want to look away, but you can’t. “Photography is a wonderful key to enter easily in others private life,” he exclaims. Whether it’s large animals on the operation table, men’s body hair, or a series on Real Dolls, Abrar forces an intimacy with the unusual.
 
—Tami Mnoian