TEHRAN – House of Lucie, a major New York-based photography exhibition venue, opened a branch in the central Iranian city of Kashan on Thursday.

The branch has been set up in a Qajar-era house, which has been restored to host photography events hereafter.

The historical house embraces three yards, 30 rooms and two wind towers, a trademark of Iranian architecture in cities located in the desert region.     

The house came on stream with opening two exhibitions showcasing works by Italian photographer Yvonne De Rosa and Iranian photographer Mehrdad Oskui, who is most famous for his documentary films.

The Kashan branch of the house has been set up by Hassan and Hossein Roshanbakht with contributions from the U.S.-based Iranian curator Hossein Farmani, who established the House of Lucie in 2016 to put works by the Lucie Awards honorees on view.

Established by the Lucie Foundation in 2003, the Lucie Awards ceremony is an annual gala that celebrates master photographers and their contributions to the field of photography.

So far, over 160 photographers, including Henri Cartier Bresson, Mary Ellen Mark, Steve McCurry, Annie Leibovitz, Gordon Parks, Sebastiao Salgado, Lillian Bassman, Lord Snowdon, Dawood Bey, Tsuneko Sa­samoto and Peter Magubane, have received the award.

The Roshanbakht brothers spent about two years converting the dilapidated house into an art exhibition facility. In the restoration process, they enhanced the historical house with some modern architectural elements, which did not detract from the authenticity of the house.    

Farmani has previously has established the Hasht Cheshmeh Art Space and Steve House, a photographer’s haunt, in Kashan in collaboration with the Roshanbakht brothers.

The Lucie Foundation also grants the Lucie Photo Book Prize. This program is a juried competition open to a diversity of book submissions from traditionally published to prototypes, hand-made books to zines. The awards are presented to photographers, editors, curators or publishers in the two categories of traditional and independent.

Photo: A poster for Iranian photographer Mehrdad Oskui’s exhibition at the House of Lucie in Kashan. 

MMS/YAW