Size: 14.8 x 10.5 cm
Edition of 100
(unnumbered, unsigned)

On the occasion of the publication of Background by The Mosaic Rooms, Hrair Sarkissian has created a limited edition of six postcards from this body of work. In Background Hrair Sarkissian photographed hundreds of examples of empty, staged backdrops in photographic studios across six Middle Eastern cities-Alexandria, Amman, Beirut, Byblos, Cairo and Istanbul . These backdrops, absent of their sitters, become symbols of lost traditions, cultural identity and time; eulogies to a certain period within a society and celebrations of portraiture as an art form. The Project was commissioned as part of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize 2013.

Hrair Sarkissian uses photography to engage the viewer in readings of what is visible and what is not, re-evaluating larger historical, religious or socio-political narratives. Sarkissian has exhibited widely internationally in both group and solo shows.