Thomas Dworzak shoots the places that shaped him
- Text by Niall Flynn
- Photography by Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
In Thomas Dworzak’s life, there have been three places that he has felt truly connected to: Tbilisi, Tehran and Cham, the small Bavarian town where he was born and raised.
While his relationship with each location differs, they remain united in the way that they have – at some stage in his life – provided him with some kind of home.
The photographer (who was elected president of Magnum Photos in 2017) left Germany aged 16 to pursue a career with the camera, travelling Eastern Europe before eventually settling in the Georgian capital, where he would live until 1998.
GEORGIA, Tbilisi. 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
GERMANY, Bavaria, Munich, 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
Tehran, too, had always been a place that Dworzak “dreamt” off. His fascination began after stumbling across Taste of the Cherries for the first time. When he eventually made the journey to the country for himself, he met his wife – an Iranian who had fled the country after the 1979 revolution, but returned at the end of the 1980s – confirming his attachment to the city.
“With my hometown, I wanted to get out of there. It was my main driving force in finding photography, to get away from there, to go somewhere else,” he explains. “I didn’t know where I wanted to go, but there was the idea to become a photographer. Then I discovered Georgia, I found Iran. ”
CZECH REPUBLIC, 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
IRAN, Near Tehran. Darbandsar, 2017 . © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
As part of Magnum’s HOME project, he spent a week in each of the places (as well Moravia in Czechoslovakia, from where his father was deported as a 6-year-old), navigating the different relationships he shares with them.[/caption]
From growing up at the edge of the Iron Curtain, to his deep-rooted “Georgification” and finding love in Tehran, Dworzak’s contribution to the series is an intensely personal one, exploring the parameters of what ‘home’ can mean to someone.
GEORGIA, Tbilisi. 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
IRAN, Tehran. 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
Be it the sprawling, seemingly endless hills of Bavaria, or a twinkling cityscape under an Iranian sunset, Dworzak’s images operate as an illustrated personal history, depicting the journey in a photographer’s search for “heimat”.
“The three places that matter are Bavaria, Georgia and Iran. I can’t reduce my life to one of them,” he says.
“I’m always going to react like a foreigner. In Georgia, I’m a foreigner, and in Germany, I may have adopted Georgianisms. In Iran, I have something of all of them. They all sort of – in a contrarian way, maybe – bounce off each other.”
CZECH REPUBLIC, 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
GERMANY, Bavaria, outskirts of Neukirchen Heilig Blut. 2017. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos
HOME, a collaboration between Fujifilm and Magnum Photos runs from 18 – 27 May, 2018 at The Vinyl Factory, London. The photobook can be ordered from Magnum website.
For further information on the project and international exhibitions, see here.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.
Written by: Emma Garland
In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm
A Portrait of Central Hill — Social housing is under threat across the British capital. But residents of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace are determined to save their homes, and their community.
Written by: Alex King
Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.
Written by: Maria Teriaeva
Petition to save the Prince Charles Cinema signed by over 100,000 people in a day
PCC forever — The Soho institution has claimed its landlord, Zedwell LSQ Ltd, is demanding the insertion of a break clause that would leave it “under permanent threat of closure”.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Remembering Taboo, the party that reshaped ’80s London nightlife
Glitter on the floor — Curators Martin Green and NJ Stevenson revisit Leigh Bowery’s legendary night, a space for wild expression that reimagined partying and fashion.
Written by: Cyna Mirzai
A timeless, dynamic view of the Highland Games
Long Walk Home — Robbie Lawrence travelled to the historic sporting events across Scotland and the USA, hoping to learn about cultural nationalism. He ended up capturing a wholesome, analogue experience rarely found in the modern age.
Written by: Isaac Muk