‘Conference of the Birds’ shows an outtake from an analysis of the correlation between time and place and of the historical Iranian landscape. How do places appear and disappear? How do we attach meaning to a certain site and in what way photography can deal with deconstructed icons in comparison to the (a-)historical palm tree sticking out its tongue?

A small desert village has been photographed obsessively and captured from every angle possible. Elements are positioned in the frame so that they are repeated in the next.

The photographs move in closely to the landscape of a palm tree village. The village is small and serene. Palm trees appear all over the place, they are burned, bend, dry and dead. They resemble pillars and artefacts that are left behind on various historical sites and they can be associated with land art installations.

All images © Sybren Vanoverberghe