I am a self-taught Iranian documentary photographer based in Tabriz, Iran and Newcastle, UK. My personal work explores the connections between socio-economic drought, climate change migration, water crisis, and the environment in my native Iran. I have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran.
Through my work, I seek to connect documentary photography and fictional storytelling, by exploring personal narratives that reveal characters and scenes in the communities that I am drawn towards. My work has been published in Foreign Policy Magazine, British Journal of Photography, Le Monde Magazine, Woman Paper Visa journal, Dutch geography schoolbook de Geo, Télérama Magazine, One World Magazine, Fish Eye Magazine, Emerge Magazine, Kel12 Magazine, and Le Point Magazine.
In 2015, I received the IdeasTap and Magnum Photos Grant while working on the long-term project The Eyes of Earth, an investigation into the environmental and human impact of the drying of Lake Urmia which is one of the most unfortunate environmental disasters of Iran and in 2016 I received Magnum Foundation Grant, Photography in Collaboration for a call themed “On Religion”. I had proposed a project documenting the intersection of religion and environment with a focus on Mandaeans minority religious community and their interaction with the Muslim community in Ahvaz, in south-western Iran. The grant also provided me funding to participate in a three-week program conducted by Brown Institute for Media Innovation.
My latest group exhibition was in 2017 the Rencontres d’Arles, “Iran, Year 38” in Arles, France and in February 2018 I was shortlisted for The International Women Photographers Association award in France.
Awards:
2018 Second Place, 2018 PhotogrVphy Grant in the category of Climate
2018 Shortlisted for The IWPA Award by the International Women Photographers Association, France
2017 Magnum Foundation “On Religion” collaborative photography Grant, NYC, USA
2016 IdeasTap with Magnum Photos Grant, London, United Kingdom
2016 Shortlisted for D&AD Next Photographer Award, London, United Kingdom
2016 Shortlisted for PDN's 30 Photographers to Watch
2015 Shortlisted for Sheed Grant (Independent Award for Documentary Photography)
2013 Tirgan Contemporary Art Prize Award, Toronto, Canada
2013 Shortlisted for Borsa International Photography Festival, Borsa, Turkey
Exhibitions:
October 11-23 2018 “(IR) REAL IRAN”, Gallery Mandarin, Paris(FR).(In partnership with Sciences Po Paris and the NGO La Chaîne de l'Espoir)
July 2017 “Iran Anne 38” Group show, Les Rencontres d’Arles Festival, Église Sainte-Anne, Arles (FR)
September - October 2016, PondyPHOTO India International Art Festival (India)
October 2013, Bursa Photo Festival, Colors of life exhibition, Bursa, Turkey
July 18-21 2013, Tirgan Iranian/Canadian art and culture Festival and Visual art exhibition (CA)
2011, HIPA Photo Contest annual Book exhibition in Wollongong University of Dubai (UAE)