Solmaz Daryani (Persian: سولماز داریانی) (born 1989 in

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quru River valley in Iran's historic Azerbaijan region between long ridges of vo ...

, Iran) is an Iranian photographer and visual artist based in the UK and Iran. Her work is particularly known for exploring the themes of

climate security Climate security refers to the national and international security risks induced, directly or indirectly, by changes in climate patterns. It is a concept that summons the idea that climate-related change amplifies existing risks in society th ...

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, water crisis, the human identity and environment in the Middle East. Daryani is a member of Women Photograph and Diversify Photo.

Life and career

Daryani studied computer science at

Azad University The Islamic Azad University (IAU; fa, دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, ''Dāneshgāh-e Āzād-e Eslāmi'') is a private university system headquartered in Tehran, Iran. It is one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, c ...

, emerging from school with a B.A. in software engineering. She started approaching photography as a self-taught photographer in 2012. Since 2014 Solmaz Daryani covered the environmental and human impact of the drying of

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia; az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü; ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê; hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich; arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...

, one of the most unfortunate environmental disasters in the Middle East , which was published in her first boo
The Eyes of Earth
b
FotoEvidence Foundation
in 2021. In fall 2019, she received The Alexandra Boulat Grant in remembrance of the late, prize winning French photographer, who was a member and co-founder of

VII Photo Agency VII Photo Agency is an international photo agency wholly owned and governed by its membership. History The photographer owned agency was originally conceived by Gary Knight and John Stanmeyer. They were subsequently joined by Alexandra Boulat, ...

, to study at DMJX. In 2017, she received the Magnum Foundation Grant for a call themed �
On Religion
��. Her ongoing project, The Eyes of Earth, is the recipient of the IdeasTap and Magnum Photos,
PhotogrVphy Grant
and th
FotoEvidence Book Award
She is a member o
Women Photograph
an
DiversifyPhoto
Through her work, she explores the link between people and their environment through personal narratives by identifying locations, characters and scenes. Solmaz Daryani usually works on long-term projects. Since the beginning of her career, she has worked on storytelling by creating series over more extended periods to understand how time impacts the people and environment. Her long-term photo projects include The Eyes of Earth (2014–ongoing) and In Deserts of Wetland (2018-ongoing). In 2017, she featured in a French documentary film "Focus Iran" about five Iranian photographers testify to the vitality of a creation confronted with the rules. Daryani has worked internationally, covering water crisis, climate change, and social documentary stories in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Her work has been published by international magazines and newspapers such as

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, Der Spiegel,

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

Atlas Obscura ''Atlas Obscura'' is an American-based online magazine and travel company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via user-generated conten ...

Foreign Policy Magazine A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through m ...

, L'OBS Magazinebr>Le Monde hors serie

Polka Magazine Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The te ...

, The American Scholar Magazine and other publications.

Photographs

File:Solmaz Daryani Urmia Lake3 دریاچه ارومیه.jpg File:Solmaz Daryani Urmia Lake9 دریاچه ارومیه.jpg File:Solmaz Daryani Urmia lake87.jpg File:Martian Mountains in Chabahar region in Sistan and Baluchestan Province ©Solmaz Daryani.jpg

Awards and exhibitions

* 2021 The winner of the 202
FotoEvidence Book Award
*2021 RPS Science Photographer of the Year finalist *2020 Award of Excellence i
75th College Photographer of the Year
in the category of Portrait *2020 Runner up for

Marilyn Stafford Marilyn Jean Stafford (née Gerson; 5 November 1925 – 2 January 2023) was a British photographer. Born and raised in the United States, she moved to Paris as a young woman, where she began working as a photojournalist. She settled in London, bu ...

Fotoreportage Award * 2019 Recipient of

Alexandra Boulat Alexandra Boulat (2 May 1962 – 5 October 2007) was a French photographer born in Paris. In 2001, she co-founded the VII Photo Agency. Her work has appeared in many magazines, including ''Time'', ''Newsweek'', ''Paris Match'' and ''National ...

Grant by the VII Foundation and VII Academy *2019 Finalist i
The IWPA Award
by th
International Women Photographers Association
France * 2018 Second Place, 201
PhotogrVphy Grant
in the category of Climate * 2018 Shortlisted fo
The IWPA Award by the International Women Photographers Association
2018, France * 2017 Recipient of

Magnum Foundation Magnum Foundation is a non-profit, photographic foundation located in New York City with a mission to expand diversity and creativity in documentary photography. History and mission Magnum Foundation was founded in 2007, in the midst of the c ...

“On Religion” collaborative photography Grant, NYC, USA * 2016 Recipient of

IdeasTap IdeasTap was a UK charitable organisation established to aid people in the creative industry at the start of their careers. The organisation offered a variety of free resources, including showcasing opportunities, workshops, funding, mentoring and ...

with

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, Maria Eis ...

Grant, London, United Kingdom * 2016 Shortlisted for

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

Next Photographer Award, London, United Kingdom * 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 * 2020 After Us, The Flood in KUNST HAUS WIEN ecological museum, Wien (AUT) * 2020 Brooklyn, NYC
Photoville’s
Artists to Watch (US) * 202
PhEST
International festival of photography and art, Monopoli (ITL) * 2020 My Environment International Festival
Neue Schule für Fotografie
Berlin (DE) * 201
F2 Fotofestival
on Water and justice, Dortmund, Germany * 2019

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

’s exhibition on inequality and climate change a
Photoville
in Brooklyn, NYC, United States * 2019 Group show, IRAN, 1979-2019 Maupetit Cŏtė Gallery, Marseille * 2019 IWPA travelling exhibition, La Galerie, Dubai,

Alliance Française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

* 2018 “(IR) Real Iran”, Gallery Mandarin, Paris, France. In partnership with

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and the NGO La Chaîne * 2017 “Iran Anne 38” Group show, Les

Rencontres d’Arles The Rencontres d’Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d’Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historia ...

Festival, Église Sainte-Anne,

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province ...

(FR) * 201
PondyPHOTO
India International Art Festival (India) * 201
Bursa Photo Festival, Colors of life exhibition
Bursa, Turkey * 2013 Tirgan Iranian/Canadian art and culture Festival and Visual art exhibition (CA) *2012 HIPA Photo Contest annual Book exhibition in Wollongong University of Dubai (UAE)

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daryani, Solmaz Documentary photographers Social documentary photographers Living people Iranian women photographers Iranian women artists Iranian photojournalists People from Tabriz 1985 births Women photojournalists