Transparencies (2012) is a continuation of Hrair Sarkissian’s exploration of abandoned urban spaces, which sprawl across the landscapes of many developing countries, often arrested in mid-construction as a result of economic or political corruption. This series documents such an unfinished housing development project on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan. The photographs are presented as a series of negative light boxes resembling x-rays, enhancing the skeletal quality of the structures. At the same time, Sarkissian bestows an almost monumental quality on the hollow and life-less spaces. These ‘new ruins’ of the contemporary Arab world are, however, devoid of any lived history; empty breezeblock shells awaiting narratives that may never occur.
C-print, backlight and displayed in light boxes, 65 x 81 cm
