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.
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/
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
Installation Photos
