Amak Mahmoodian

Dreams are deeply personal, a vision between reality and imagination. I throw light on dreams, their relationship to our daily lives and connection to the inner states of individuals in exile to find a common ground.

Over the last decade, I have balanced my life in the UK with a displacement in my mind of my past, my family and my own country - all of which are currently lost to me. I seek to capture the dreams and unseen worlds of those who share similar experiences where they too are exiled from their homeland. 

The poetry of dreams and photography are universal. Using photographs, videos, texts and drawings, I create a bridge for individuals to visualise their dreams in order to define their loss and the voids in a relatable way.

This body of work is the result of a wonderful journey, inside and outside, upon which many people have given their generous support. I would like to thank the 14 wonderful souls who so generously shared their dreams and inner worlds with me.

I am grateful to D6: Culture In Transit and Multistory , for helping and supporting me through this journey.

Artist: Amak Mahmoodian

Digital Curator: Dominic Smith

Amak Mahmoodian was born in Shiraz, Iran and currently lives in Bristol. In 2015, she completed a PhD in Photography at the University of South Wales, having previously studied at the Art University of Tehran. Amak's work questions notions of identity and home, bridging a space between personal and political. Through her journey she explores the effects of exile and distance on memory, dreams and daily life. Working with images, poems, archives and videos, she looks for lyrical reality frames in the photographs.

She has exhibited her work extensively and won numerous international photography awards.

Dreams was produced as part of Artists Connecting in Transition (ACT). ACT is an international collaboration programme hosted by D6: Culture in Transit (UK), Arthereistanbul (Turkey), MedeArts (Jordan) and the Fanak Fund (who work across the Arab speaking world).