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Ali Rajabi

@nightblueman

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MFA @lesleyuniversity | Photographer | @hasselblad Master | Lecturer | based in New York

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Vestige: correcting and embracing history and memory

I’m happy to be showing Resurrection alongside Tynan Byrne, Katherine Finocchiaro, David Kessler, and Morgan Silver in our MFA Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition.

📍 Roberts & Raizes Galleries · Lunder Arts Center.

🗓 June 26 – July 24, 2026
Opening reception: June 26, 5–8pm

Come see the work in person.

@lesley_mfa @tynbyr @morgansilver19 @thereealslimkt @lesleyuniversity by @nightblueman

Shoutout to Ali Rajabi (@nightblueman) for a wonderful #i3Lecture last night at @svanyc! Thank you for taking us on a journey through your many amazing projects 💕

@sva_digitalphoto @julieinstagrahame #i3 #i3Lectures #NYCArt #NYCPhoto by @nightblueman

“It’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light.”

MFA — Lesley University, 2026.

Thank you to my family, my friends, and everyone who carried me here. No journey is finished alone.

And thank you to @lesleyuniversity @lesley_mfa , for opening a door that doesn’t always open the same way for everyone.

To anyone deep in their own dark stretch right now:
Keep going. The light is patient.

#mfa #alirajabi #lesleyuniversity by @nightblueman

Time passes, often before we realize how much of it has gone by. I’ve witnessed history unfold before my eyes, lived between different worlds, encountered extraordinary people, and watched life change in ways I could never have imagined. And through it all, I’ve come to understand that none of us arrives where we are alone. We are shaped by the people who love us, challenge us, believe in us, and sometimes simply cross our paths.

As the years pass, I find myself understanding more about the world, while realizing how much there is still to discover.
I often wonder what our world might look like if we were a little more willing to question what we know, to see beyond what we’ve been taught, and to understand lives different from our own.

We don’t have to agree on everything. Understanding doesn’t require agreement, only the willingness to recognize that our own perspective is never the whole picture.

For the moments that have passed, the people who have been part of them, and everything that remains ahead, I am grateful.

And my wish is simple: that we find the courage to understand one another, the wisdom to question ourselves, and more reasons to come together than to drift apart and ultimately, act on what is right.

-Ali #alirajabi

⁨ زمان می‌گذرد، اغلب پیش از آن‌که متوجه شویم چه اندازه از آن گذشته است. در برابر چشمانم شاهد رقم خوردن تاریخ بوده‌ام، در میان جهان‌های متفاوت زندگی کرده‌ام، با انسان‌های فوق‌العاده‌ای آشنا شده‌ام و دیده‌ام که زندگی چگونه به شیوه‌هایی تغییر کرده که هرگز تصورش را نمی‌کردم.

و در تمام این سال‌ها، دریافته‌ام که هیچ‌یک از ما به‌تنهایی به جایگاهی که امروز در آن ایستاده‌ایم نرسیده‌ایم. ما از انسان‌هایی تأثیر می‌پذیریم که دوستمان داشته‌اند، ما را به چالش کشیده‌اند، به ما باور داشته‌اند و گاه تنها برای لحظه‌ای از مسیر زندگی‌مان عبور کرده‌اند.

با گذشت سال‌ها، احساس می‌کنم درکم از جهان عمیق‌تر می‌شود، در حالی که بیش از پیش درمی‌یابم هنوز چه بسیار چیزها برای کشف کردن وجود دارد. گاهی با خود فکر می‌کنم جهان ما چه شکل متفاوتی می‌توانست داشته باشد، اگر اندکی بیشتر حاضر بودیم دانسته‌هایمان را به پرسش بکشیم، فراتر از آنچه به ما آموخته‌اند بنگریم و برای درک زندگی انسان‌هایی متفاوت از خودمان تلاش کنیم.

قرار نیست در همه‌چیز با یکدیگر موافق باشیم. by @nightblueman

Untitled (Canal) | 2025

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman

بدون عنوان (کانال) | ۲۰۲۵

رستاخیز مجموعه‌ای از تصاویر عکاسانه است که در آن از هوش مصنوعی به عنوان ابزاری برای بازسازی استفاده می‌کنم تا خانه‌ها، اتاقها، حیاط ها و مدرسهٔ دوران کودکی و نوجوانی‌ام در ایران را تصویر کنم. مکان‌هایی که دیگر وجود ندارند. برخی از این مکان‌ها ویران شده‌اند، برخی دیگر چنان دگرگون گشته‌اند که دیگر قابل شناسایی نیستند‌ و بعضی نیز در شکل اصلی خود دیگر در دسترس نیستند.

از آنجا که این مکان‌ها را دیگر نمی‌توان به‌طور مستقیم عکاسی کرد، این پروژه با پرسشی روبه‌رو می‌شود که متعلق به خودِ عکاسی است: هنگامی که مرجع فیزیکی ناپدید شده است، چه چیزی برای عکاسی باقی می‌ماند؟ رستاخیز این پاسخ را ارائه می‌کند که مرجع , اکنون به درون و ذهن منتقل می‌شود. این تصاویر از روی عکس‌ها ی by @nightblueman

Untitled (Rooftop) | 2026

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman

بدون عنوان (پشت بام) | ۲۰۲۶

رستاخیز مجموعه‌ای از تصاویر عکاسانه است که در آن از هوش مصنوعی به عنوان ابزاری برای بازسازی استفاده می‌کنم تا خانه‌ها، اتاقها، حیاط ها و مدرسهٔ دوران کودکی و نوجوانی‌ام در ایران را تصویر کنم. مکان‌هایی که دیگر وجود ندارند. برخی از این مکان‌ها ویران شده‌اند، برخی دیگر چنان دگرگون گشته‌اند که دیگر قابل شناسایی نیستند‌ و بعضی نیز در شکل اصلی خود دیگر در دسترس نیستند.

از آنجا که این مکان‌ها را دیگر نمی‌توان به‌طور مستقیم عکاسی کرد، این پروژه با پرسشی روبه‌رو می‌شود که متعلق به خودِ عکاسی است: هنگامی که مرجع فیزیکی ناپدید شده است، چه چیزی برای عکاسی باقی می‌ماند؟ رستاخیز این پاسخ را ارائه می‌کند که مرجع , اکنون به درون و ذهن منتقل می‌شود. این تصاویر از روی عکس by @nightblueman

Untitled (Taped Windows) | 2026

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman

بدون عنوان (پنجره های چسب خورده) | ۲۰۲۶

رستاخیز مجموعه‌ای از تصاویر عکاسانه است که در آن از هوش مصنوعی به عنوان ابزاری برای بازسازی استفاده می‌کنم تا خانه‌ها، اتاقها، حیاط ها و مدرسهٔ دوران کودکی و نوجوانی‌ام در ایران را تصویر کنم. مکان‌هایی که دیگر وجود ندارند. برخی از این مکان‌ها ویران شده‌اند، برخی دیگر چنان دگرگون گشته‌اند که دیگر قابل شناسایی نیستند‌ و بعضی نیز در شکل اصلی خود دیگر در دسترس نیستند.

از آنجا که این مکان‌ها را دیگر نمی‌توان به‌طور مستقیم عکاسی کرد، این پروژه با پرسشی روبه‌رو می‌شود که متعلق به خودِ عکاسی است: هنگامی که مرجع فیزیکی ناپدید شده است، چه چیزی برای عکاسی باقی می‌ماند؟ رستاخیز این پاسخ را ارائه می‌کند که مرجع , اکنون به درون و ذهن منتقل می‌شود. این by @nightblueman

Untitled (Alak Dolak) | 2026

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman

⁨ بدون عنوان (الک دولک) | ۲۰۲۶

رستاخیز مجموعه‌ای از تصاویر عکاسانه است که در آن از هوش مصنوعی به عنوان ابزاری برای بازسازی استفاده می‌کنم تا خانه‌ها، اتاقها، حیاط ها و مدرسهٔ دوران کودکی و نوجوانی‌ام در ایران را تصویر کنم. مکان‌هایی که دیگر وجود ندارند. برخی از این مکان‌ها ویران شده‌اند، برخی دیگر چنان دگرگون گشته‌اند که دیگر قابل شناسایی نیستند‌ و بعضی نیز در شکل اصلی خود دیگر در دسترس نیستند.

از آنجا که این مکان‌ها را دیگر نمی‌توان به‌طور مستقیم عکاسی کرد، این پروژه با پرسشی روبه‌رو می‌شود که متعلق به خودِ عکاسی است: هنگامی که مرجع فیزیکی ناپدید شده است، چه چیزی برای عکاسی باقی می‌ماند؟ رستاخیز این پاسخ را ارائه می‌کند که مرجع , اکنون به درون و ذهن منتقل می‌شود. این تصاویر از رو by @nightblueman

Untitled (Room with Balcony) | 2025

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman

بدون عنوان (اتاق با بالکن) | ۲۰۲۵

رستاخیز مجموعه‌ای از تصاویر عکاسانه است که در آن از هوش مصنوعی به عنوان ابزاری برای بازسازی استفاده می‌کنم تا خانه‌ها، اتاقها، حیاط ها و مدرسهٔ دوران کودکی و نوجوانی‌ام در ایران را تصویر کنم. مکان‌هایی که دیگر وجود ندارند. برخی از این مکان‌ها ویران شده‌اند، برخی دیگر چنان دگرگون گشته‌اند که دیگر قابل شناسایی نیستند‌ و بعضی نیز در شکل اصلی خود دیگر در دسترس نیستند.

از آنجا که این مکان‌ها را دیگر نمی‌توان به‌طور مستقیم عکاسی کرد، این پروژه با پرسشی روبه‌رو می‌شود که متعلق به خودِ عکاسی است: هنگامی که مرجع فیزیکی ناپدید شده است، چه چیزی برای عکاسی باقی می‌ماند؟ رستاخیز این پاسخ را ارائه می‌کند که مرجع , اکنون به درون و ذهن منتقل می‌شود. این تص by @nightblueman

Untitled (Game Club) | 2026

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman by @nightblueman

Untitled (Children Running in Snow) | 2026

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman

⁨ بدون عنوان (بچه ها در برف میدوند) | ۲۰۲۵

رستاخیز مجموعه‌ای از تصاویر عکاسانه است که در آن از هوش مصنوعی به عنوان ابزاری برای بازسازی استفاده می‌کنم تا خانه‌ها، اتاقها، حیاط ها و مدرسهٔ دوران کودکی و نوجوانی‌ام در ایران را تصویر کنم. مکان‌هایی که دیگر وجود ندارند. برخی از این مکان‌ها ویران شده‌اند، برخی دیگر چنان دگرگون گشته‌اند که دیگر قابل شناسایی نیستند‌ و بعضی نیز در شکل اصلی خود دیگر در دسترس نیستند.

از آنجا که این مکان‌ها را دیگر نمی‌توان به‌طور مستقیم عکاسی کرد، این پروژه با پرسشی روبه‌رو می‌شود که متعلق به خودِ عکاسی است: هنگامی که مرجع فیزیکی ناپدید شده است، چه چیزی برای عکاسی باقی می‌ماند؟ رستاخیز این پاسخ را ارائه می‌کند که مرجع , اکنون به درون و ذهن منتق by @nightblueman

Untitled (Phone Booth) | 2025

Resurrection is a body of photographic work that uses artificial intelligence as a reconstruction tool to picture the homes, streets, open fields, and school from my childhood and adolescence in Iran, places that no longer exist. Some of these sites have been destroyed, some transformed beyond recognition, and others remain inaccessible in their original form.

Because they can no longer be photographed directly, the project confronts a problem specific to photography: when the physical referent has disappeared, what is left to photograph? Resurrection proposes that the referent shifts inward. The images are not generated from existing photographs or archives but built from lived memory through detailed prompting, repeated correction, and the refusal of false detail, the same judgments that guide photographic practice in front of a camera. What emerges is not documentary fact, but mnemonic accuracy: a truth
rooted in persistence rather than verification.

The work refuses the binary of real and fake. The images do not claim to restore what was lost, nor do they pretend to be fantasies. They are visual evidence that memory continues to produce place long after physical disappearance, and that photography can continue through it.
—————————————————————————

Instagram is not the right platform to experience these images as intended. I hope you’ll take a moment to view the full series on my website:
👉 www.arajabi.com

#alirajabi #resurrection @nightblueman by @nightblueman