Aydin Matlabi, current student in the MFA in Studio Arts program, was awarded the Dick and Gretchen Evans Prize for Photography, a one-time $6,000 cash prize. Matlabi, selected by a jury of six Concordia photography professors, is
in his final year of the program and
has already established a career in photography.
Matlabi's courage and consciousness as a photojournalist were reflected in the images he shot and managed to get out of Iran during the country's recent political upheaval. His experiences in Iran were recently featured in
Concordia's alumni magazine.
"Aydin is a stellar student and promising young artist," said Raymonde April, chair of the jury and also chair and professor of Studio Arts. "His work is conceptually strong, technically very good, intellectually stimulating and formally stunning."
A native of Tehran, Iran, Matlabi immigrated to Canada as a
refugee at a young age. For the past five years, he travelled to
hot spots in the Middle East and during the past three years, made
frequent trips to Iran to finish his thesis project. On his last trip
to Iran in summer 2009, he was one of the participants in the country's
Green Movement. His defiance led to his arrest and expulsion.
Matlabi was awarded the Prize for Photography on June 10, 2010 in conjunction with the announcement of the creation of the
Dick and Gretchen Evans Fellowship for Photography.
Concordia
University benefactors Dick and Gretchen Evans, along with Iranian-born
Aydin Matlabi, winner of the Dick and Gretchen Evans Prize for
Photography, a one-time $6,000 cash prize, posing before two of
Matlabi's photographs. Matlabi earned a BFA (photography) in 2007 from
Concordia University and will receive an MFA (studio arts) at the
university's convocation ceremony on June 23 at Place des Arts. Photo credit: Vincenzo D'Alto
Matlabi's work includes images of Iranian marketplaces. Updated on Jun. 11, 2010
