Bashir has worked with photography since the beginning of his practice, constantly pushing the limits of this medium. The performative fictional photographs he takes are composed of occasionally autobiographic and absurd synergies, which are in fact mostly inspired by daily life. He has in the last few years been producing a series of photographs that are shaped under a shared concept and format. He creates photographic fictional compositions originating from the new capitalist life formed in his ex-socialist country in 1991. The first of these is the 'Panoramas' series which he produced in his hometown Karaçayevsk. And the more recent, is a collection of fictionassemblage panoramas that he displayed in his first solo exhibition in Gallery Nev, Istanbul in April 2009. This new group of eight photographs reflects a period when he went back to his hometown in Russia, after ten years to the place where he spent his childhood and early adolescence years. The discursive, linguistic and aesthetic differences found within these photographs have drawn much attention to Bashir's work. In his artistic adventure, which he embarked upon at the end of nineties and has pursued until today, Bashir always produces very silent but profound works with a piercing awareness of society and the captivating attractions of the fictive. He manages to capture the little moments of corruption that no one has noticed, as well as the hidden, hopeful moments that lurk all around us. I guess the reason why he is so indispensable and necessary is that while he lives in such a large space, with his eyes and soul opening the doors of this world for us, he knows how to see and show the normalized queernesses and fascinating little blisses that are not normally noticed in a reality that goes beyond time and space.
Berlin 2008, 80 pages, ill., 21 x 15 cm, Softcover, English/Turkish
ISBN 978-3-86895-035-9
