Solmaz Daryani

Solmaz Daryani (Persian: سولماز داریانی) (born 1989 in Tabriz, 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 change, water crisis,^[1] the human identity and environment in the Middle East. Daryani is a member of Women Photograph^[2] and Diversify Photo.^[3]

Life and career

Daryani studied computer science at Azad University, 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, one of the most unfortunate environmental disasters in the Middle East , which was published in her first book The Eyes of Earth by FotoEvidence Foundation^[4] in 2021.

In fall 2019, she received The Alexandra Boulat Grant^[5] in remembrance of the late, prize winning French photographer, who was a member and co-founder of VII Photo Agency, to study at DMJX. In 2017, she received the Magnum Foundation Grant^[6] for a call themed “On Religion”. Her ongoing project, The Eyes of Earth, is the recipient of the IdeasTap and Magnum Photos,^[7][8] PhotogrVphy Grant^[9] and the FotoEvidence Book Award.

She is a member of Women Photograph and DiversifyPhoto.^[10] Through her work, she explores the link between people and their environment through personal narratives by identifying locations, characters and scenes.^[11] 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)^[12][13] and In Deserts of Wetland (2018-ongoing).^[14] In 2017, she featured in a French documentary film "Focus Iran"^[15] about five Iranian photographers testify to the vitality of a creation confronted with the rules.^[16]

Daryani has worked internationally, covering water crisis, climate change, and social documentary stories in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Her work has been published by international magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times,^[17] Der Spiegel,^[18][19] National Geographic Magazine,^[20] Atlas Obscura,^[21] Foreign Policy Magazine,^[22] L'OBS Magazine^[23][24] Le Monde hors serie,^[25] Polka Magazine,^[26][27] The American Scholar Magazine and other publications.^{[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]}

Photographs

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Awards and exhibitions

• 2021 The winner of the 2021 FotoEvidence Book Award^[39]
• 2021 RPS Science Photographer of the Year finalist ^[40]
• 2020 Award of Excellence in 75th College Photographer of the Year in the category of Portrait ^[41]
• 2020 Runner up for Marilyn Stafford Fotoreportage Award^[42]
• 2019 Recipient of Alexandra Boulat Grant by the VII Foundation and VII Academy^[43]
• 2019 Finalist in The IWPA Award by the International Women Photographers Association, France^[44]
• 2018 Second Place, 2018 PhotogrVphy Grant in the category of Climate
• 2018 Shortlisted for The IWPA Award by the International Women Photographers Association 2018, France
• 2017 Recipient of Magnum Foundation “On Religion” collaborative photography Grant, NYC, USA
• 2016 Recipient of IdeasTap with Magnum Photos Grant, London, United Kingdom
• 2016 Shortlisted for D&AD Next Photographer Award, London, United Kingdom^[45]
• 2015 Shortlisted for Sheed Grant (Independent Award for Documentary Photography)^[46]
• 2013 Tirgan Contemporary Art Prize Award,^[47] Toronto, Canada
• 2013 Shortlisted for Borsa International Photography Festival, Borsa, Turkey
• 2020 After Us, The Flood in KUNST HAUS WIEN ecological museum, Wien (AUT)^[48]
• 2020 Brooklyn, NYC, Photoville’s Artists to Watch (US)^[49]
• 2020 PhEST International festival of photography and art, Monopoli (ITL)^[50]
• 2020 My Environment International Festival, Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin (DE)^[51]
• 2019 F2 Fotofestival on Water and justice, Dortmund, Germany^[52]
• 2019 United Nations Development Programme’s exhibition on inequality and climate change at Photoville^[53] in Brooklyn, NYC, United States^[54][55]
• 2019 Group show, IRAN, 1979-2019 Maupetit Cŏtė Gallery, Marseille^[56]
• 2019 IWPA travelling exhibition, La Galerie, Dubai, Alliance Française
• 2018 “(IR) Real Iran”, Gallery Mandarin, Paris, France. In partnership with Sciences Po Paris and the NGO La Chaîne
• 2017 “Iran Anne 38” Group show, Les Rencontres d’Arles^[57] Festival, Église Sainte-Anne, Arles (FR)^[58][59]
• 2016 PondyPHOTO India International Art Festival (India)
• 2013 Bursa Photo Festival, Colors of life exhibition, Bursa, Turkey
• 2013 Tirgan Iranian/Canadian art and culture Festival and Visual art exhibition (CA)^[60]
• 2012 HIPA Photo Contest annual Book exhibition^[61] in Wollongong University of Dubai (UAE)

References

1. "Iran's Water Crisis". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
2. "Women Photograph". Women Photograph. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
3. "United Kingdom". Retrieved 2020-07-20.
4. Daryani, Solmaz (2021-05-21). The Eyes of Earth. FotoEvidence. ISBN 978-1-7324711-7-7.
5. "Photo I and scholarship students have been selected – DMJX photojournalism". Retrieved 2019-12-11.
6. "Solmaz Daryani | A Sacred, Sullied Space". Magnum Foundation. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
7. "The Desolate, Apocalyptic Landscape That Is Lake Urmia, Iran".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
8. "Solmaz Daryani". 1854 Photography. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
9. "Hamoun Wetland to Wasteland". internationalphotogrant.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
10. Solmaz, Daryani. "Women Photograph -- Middle East". Women Photograph. Retrieved 2019-10-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
11. administrata (2018-06-11). "The Eyes of Earth". emerge - Magazin für jungen Fotojournalismus (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-14.
12. "Solmaz Daryani documente la disparition du lac d'Ourmia en Iran". Lense (in French). 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
13. LensCulture, Solmaz Daryani |. "Solmaz Daryani". LensCulture. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
14. "In The Desert of Iran's Wetlands". phmuseum.com. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
15. "TV : " Focus Iran, l'audace au premier plan "" (in French). 2017-07-08. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
16. "Focus Iran, l'audace au premier plan". Scam.fr (in French). Retrieved 2019-10-19.
17. Sengupta, Somini (2021-08-30). "A New Breed of Crisis: War and Warming Collide in Afghanistan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
18. Olphen, Tim van (15 October 2020). "Where girls are no longer allowed to go to school because of climate change (Afghanistan)". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2020-11-14.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
19. Olphen, Tim van (29 October 2020). "How one of the world's largest salt lakes disappears-Lake Urmia". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2020-11-14.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
20. "In Afghanistan, climate change complicates future prospects for peace". Science. 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
21. Daryani, Solmaz (2020-09-11). "The Ghost Towns of Lake Urmia, Once West Asia's Largest Lake". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
22. Daryani, Solmaz. "Troubled Waters". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
23. Daryani, Solmaz (2019-12-06). "Dürre im Feuchtgebiet - In Deserts of Wetlands of Iran". magazin.zenith.me (in German). Retrieved 2020-11-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
24. "The Community Left Behind at Dried Up Lake Urmia (PHOTOS)". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
25. "Solmaz Daryani documente la disparition du lac d'Ourmia en Iran". Lense (in French). 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
26. "Solmaz Daryani – Polka Magazine" (in French). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
27. "Une photographe immortalise la disparition d'un lac en Iran, la terre de son enfance". Polka Magazine (in French). 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
28. "The Lost Lakes of Iran". The American Scholar. 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
29. "Regardez en replay "Focus Iran : l'audace au premier plan"". Télérama.fr (in French). 9 July 2017. Retrieved 2019-10-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
30. "En Iran, des photographes au regard si perçant". Télérama.fr (in French). 9 July 2017. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
31. "Solmaz Daryani | zenith.me". zenith.me. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
32. "Dürre im Feuchtgebiet". magazin.zenith.me (in German). 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
33. "Woman Paper Visa journal celebrates female photojournalists". British Journal of Photography. 2017-11-23. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
34. administrata (2018-06-11). "The Eyes of Earth". emerge - Magazin für jungen Fotojournalismus (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
35. "Kel12 magazine - Settembre 2016". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
36. Daryani, Solmaz. "A reflection on how climate change altered Lake Urmia". The Caravan. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
37. "In The Desert of Iran's Wetlands". phmuseum.com. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
38. "Solmaz Daryani Archives". Feature Shoot. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
39. Daryani, Solmaz (2021-05-21). The Eyes of Earth. FotoEvidence. ISBN 978-1-7324711-7-7.
40. "How a picture tells the story of climate emergency". rps.org. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
41. "75th College Photographer of the Year | Winning Images". www.cpoy.org. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
42. "Marilyn Stafford Fotoreportage Award 2020 Winner – FotoDocument". Retrieved 2020-07-20.
43. "Photo I and scholarship students have been selected – DMJX photojournalism". Retrieved 2019-12-27.
44. Barba-Court, Kala (2019-07-24). "The Winning Images of 2019's International Women Photography Awards". Plain Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
45. "Solmaz Daryani: The Eyes of Earth | 2016 Next Photographer Award Winner | Next Photographer | D&AD". www.dandad.org. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
46. عکاسی | 0 |, نشریه عکاسی حرفه ای | ۴ مهر ۱۳۹۴ | مسابقه (2015-09-25). "کاندیداهای دریافت نخستین گرنت عکاسی مستند شید". سایت عکاسی (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
47. "Hope Photo Contest Winners | Tirgan". tirgan.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
48. "After Us, the Flood – Solmaz Daryani Kunst Haus Wien. Museum Hundertwasser". www.kunsthauswien.com. Retrieved 2020-11-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
49. majda. "Photoville's Emerging Artists to Watch – Photoville". Retrieved 2020-11-14.
50. "Solmaz Daryani". phest (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-11-14.
51. "Neue Schule für Fotografie - Fotoschule in Berlin". neue-schule-fotografie.berlin. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
52. "SYMPOSIUM". f2 Fotofestival Dortmund (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-15.
53. majda (2019-07-28). "Inequality and Climate Change: The Double Threat to Life on Earth". Photoville. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
54. "Photo exhibition: "Inequality and Climate Change: The Double Threat to Life on Earth". UNDP. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
55. "Inequality and climate change - United Nations Development Programme | UNDP". Exposure. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
56. "Post". corridorelephant. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
57. "Photographie iranienne : Solmaz Daryani". Art Design Tendance (in French). 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
58. d'Arles, Les Rencontres. "Iran: year 38". www.rencontres-arles.com. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
59. LensCulture, Rencontres D' Arles |. "Iran, année 38: Photography Since the Revolution - Curation by Anahita Ghabaian and Newsha Tavakolian". LensCulture. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
60. "Hope Photo Contest Winners | Tirgan". tirgan.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
61. "Publications". Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award. Retrieved 2019-10-15.

External links

• Official Website
•   Media related to Solmaz Daryani at Wikimedia Commons