Stepfather, 2011 by Cyrus Karimipour

"There are people in my water." That's the entire statement Contender Cyrus Karimipour submitted to us for his images. In what appear to be photographic prints, Karimipour sees the "people," then outlines them by making cutouts to give us, the viewers, these highly abstract figures with suggestive titles, encouraging us to practice our imagination.

Swarm, 2011 by Cyrus Karimipour

Feeding An Owl, 2011 by Cyrus Karimipour

Karimipour's other series on his website, Invented Memory, also caught our eyes. You can read his statement here (pdf download).

Untitled (Boys Holding Hands), by Cyrus Karimipour

Argument, by Cyrus Karimipour

Wallflower, by Cyrus Karimipour

Karimipour received his MFA in Photography from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. His photographs have been exhibited at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Light Work and ThreeWalls, and internationally in galleries in Germany, Austria, China and Lithuania. His work has been published in Harper's Magazine and Contact Sheet, and can be found in the collections of the Lishui Photography Museum in China, Light Work in New York, the Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado and the Center for Contemporary Art in New Mexico. Karimipour is a two-time Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist, as well as a nominee for the Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers.