I, Joshgun Suleymanov (b. October 9, 1987, Baku), am an artist working across the disciplines of photography and cinema, grounding my visual narrative in a conceptual and philosophical framework. In my work, I create surreal and metaphorical connections between the forms of objects and the aesthetics of the human body, reinterpreting the fragility of the "living" through inanimate forms.
Joshgun Suleymanov — Artist Statement
"My creative practice is fundamentally rooted in deep, intense observation. The visual moments and details I encounter on the streets and within the layers of the city leave such a profound imprint on me that I engrave these scenes into my mind. Quite often, I pursue those very scenes and atmospheres that I missed or couldn’t capture in the moment; I wander the streets for days, sometimes months, never giving up on the search until I find them.
My creative process begins even before I leave my house, guided by a script already written in my mind, born from these observations and dreams. Camera in hand, I step out into the world to find the characters, figures, and environments belonging to that script. It could be a landfill, a desolate wasteland, or even a simple discarded napkin on the ground; if I catch the lines and the feeling I have been seeking within it, I press the shutter, and the puzzle in my mind falls perfectly into place.
Many capture merely the physical, documentary image of an object or a landscape. My own distinct process, however, truly begins right after that shot is taken. I bring that raw reality home and apply my own alternative visual technique. As a result, the object or scenery that everyone knows and sees fragments, transforming into a human figure breaking free from my subconscious, an angelic form, or a conceptual symbol. Documentary realism undergoes a total visual metamorphosis.
I completely reject digital software, Photoshop, and the smooth, synthetic perfection brought by artificial intelligence. The unusual textures and hazy layers in my work are not added later on a computer; they are generated directly in-camera, staying strictly loyal to the discipline of analog photography. This philosophical quest, stretching from Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave' to Kafka's transformations, means that for me, a photograph is not just a recording of a moment, but the visual 'sealing of time' itself within the frame."
