CURRENT EXHIBITION
This solo exhibition of work by Edinburgh-based artist Kayhan consists of large-format photographs united by a single word: balance. Each image captures a state of suspended animation—a delicate tension before movement, transformation, or dissolution. Crafted through slow, intuitive methods, these photographs are material traces of touch, time, and light. They bear witness to the uncertain equilibrium of our collective condition, speaking to the fragility and strength of that which endures.
The Artist
Born in Tehran in 1978, Kayhan is a self-taught photographic artist and scholar based in Edinburgh.
Informed by his lifelong fascination with Tribal Art, Kayhan’s photographic practice embraces the raw, instinctual energy of early image-makers. Working exclusively with an 8x10 view camera and traditional darkroom processes, his images, often made within walking distance of his studio, explore the tension between fragility and resilience, seen and unseen, presence and loss. Rooted in a deeply personal dialogue with place and self, his work mirrors the quiet complexities of being—always in transition, always on the verge.
Kayhan’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including Rencontres d’Arles (OFF programme, 2024), the Royal Scottish Academy’s Annual Exhibitions (2023, 2024), and the International Juried Exhibition at Maloof Gallery, Atlanta (2024). He has also shown across the United States, including the Center for Photographic Arts in Carmel and the Art League Gallery in Rhode Island.
Recent accolades include the 1st Prize at the Scottish Portrait Awards (2024), a Full Grant from the Coward Foundation for analogue photography (2024), and Best in Show (2023) at the Center for Photographic Arts, selected by Shana Lopes, Assistant Curator of Photography at SFMoMA.
Kayhan was profiled by Michael Kirchoff, Editor in Chief at “Analog Forever Magazine” and Contributing Editor at "One Twelve Publishing” in 2023.
A peek behind the scene - looking at a large-format (8”x10”) transparency film
ARTIST TALK
Recorded on May 17th, 2025, portions were edited for clarity and audibility
Meet the Moderator
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Maggie Dethloff
Maggie Dethloff is the Assistant Curator of Photography and New Media at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. She engages in interdisciplinary research to explore the potential, and potential limits, of photographic and time-based mediums to respond to contemporary issues. Maggie holds a PhD in Visual Studies from the University of California, Irvine. She has held curatorial positions at the Langson Institute and Museum of California Art at UCI and the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, where she authored PHOTOdocument: Twentieth-Century American Photography and Found Text. At the Cantor, Maggie most recently curated TT Takemoto: Remembering in the Absence of Memory.
READ THE REVIEW…
“ Kayhan’s exquisitely rendered tone and color, both painterly and cinematic, suggest his roots in modernist photography, but their resonances go even further back into art history to the symbolic, allegorical still-life painting of the 17th century. The Dutch Masters rendered their still-life subjects immaculately, celebrating the brief, glorious beauty of flowers, but also propagating the then-dominant Christian faith in memento mori: visual sermons. We viewers are just passing through time, as are flowers and foodstuffs. The inner life that we discern in Jafar-Shaghaghi’s mysterious objects echoes our own subjective experience as sentient transients.”
- DeWitt Cheng, June 2025
https://48hills.org/2025/06/kayhans-revolt-against-fomo-photography/
INSTALLATION PHOTOS
These images are meticulously captured on 8x10 transparency film using a traditional view camera. Emphasizing a deliberate and considered approach to image-making, each photograph embodies the unique aesthetic qualities inherent in this analog process. The expansive negative size yields exceptional resolution and tonal depth, faithfully rendered in the final prints.
The inherent luminosity and subtle gradations characteristic of transparency film are central to the visual language of these images. Light, transmitted through the emulsion, imbues the work with a distinctive sense of presence and clarity, differentiating it from contemporary digital and negative-based photography. Through the expansive frame of the 8x10 format, subjects are examined with heightened scrutiny, revealing intricate details and nuanced perspectives often overlooked.
These photographs represent more than mere documentation; they are the result of a focused engagement with the subject matter, informed by the technical rigor of large-format photography. The deliberate composition, precise control of focus and depth of field, and the inherent fidelity of the 8x10 transparency contribute to a body of work that invites sustained observation and a deeper appreciation for the tangible and enduring qualities of analog photographic practice.
Click image for ArtCloud Online Gallery