Fifth Year Judges

Shahriar Tavakoli
Born in 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟿, Tehran– photographer and professor of photography
Bachelor and masters of photography graduate from Art University of Tehran

Shahriar Tavakoli was the owner and managing director of the specialized publication "Herfe Honarmand" from 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷 to 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟻. The photo books "If You Don't See Me" and "Profession: Photographer (Culture of Photographers of the World)" in collaboration with Tooraj Hamidian are among his activities in the field of photobooks.
He has also participated in the group exhibitions "Iranian View", "Iranian Silver" and "Closed View".
The collection of photos "Tree, Grass, Stone", "Light", "Night", "My Family", "Heaven and Earth" and "Mountains of Writings" are among his other works in the field of photography. "Noctambulation of Me and G𝟷𝟶" was Tavakoli's last solo exhibition that was shown at Mehr Gallery. This collection was the result of his noctambulation with G𝟷𝟶 camera; Photos with a free subject, from portraits to nature and city atmosphere.

Behrang Samadzadegan
Born in 𝟷𝟿𝟽𝟿, Tehran – Artist and researcher of Art
Bachelor of painting graduate from Art University of Tehran, masters of painting graduate from Tarbiat Modares University

Samadzadegan started teaching painting since he was a child at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults and then continued it after entering the conservatory. He completed his bachelor's degree in painting at Art University of Tehran and his master's degree at Tarbiat Modares University. Since then, he started holding group and individual exhibitions, followed by authoring and translating, and teaching workshops and theoretical art courses. So far, he has held ten solo exhibitions in Iran, America and the UAE and has participated in more than a hundred collective exhibitions in Iran, Turkey, the UAE, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, France, Belgium, England, Austria, Germany and the United States. He has also been the curator of five exhibitions so far. Samadzadegan started teaching at university levels in 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹 and was engaged in teaching classic and contemporary art history courses and workshop courses at Sourah University and Aria Collection. In recent years, he has been teaching as a visiting professor at Art University of Tehran.
In his works, Samadzadegan seeks to test the possibility or impossibility of showing truth, identity and history within the framework of aesthetic rules and challenging the image's ability to show these concepts. As a researcher and curator, apart from discovering and investigating new artistic phenomena, he believes in revising established rules and requirements of art and challenging them. All of his activities, both as an artist, lecturer and theorist, apart from direct interaction with the phenomenology of art history, are influenced by the works and thoughts of writers and theorists such as Benjamin, Agamben, Kafka, Murakami, Calvino, Ain al-Qadat and Jami.

Farhad Fakhrian
Born in 𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟸, photographer and professor
Bachelor and masters of photography graduate from Art University of Tehran, PHD of Fine Arts from USM University of Malaysia

Due to his interest in technical issues, he got acquainted with a camera at the age of five and with a darkroom at the age of twelve. In 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿, he received a diploma in auto mechanics from Isfahan Institute of Technology, and in February 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿, he was one of the first to be admitted to the photography department of the Art University of Tehran. He turned to advertising and industrial photography and in 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿, he started teaching photography for non-photography subjects at the invitation of the Art University of Tehran.
In 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟿, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in photography and started working as a teacher with the photography department of Art University. In 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟸, he won the first place in the entrance exam to be sent abroad for a master's degree in photography, which was rejected on the grounds of lack of moral competence. In 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟹, he again won the first place in the entrance exam, and in 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟺, he was one of the first entries for the master's degree in photography at the Art University of Tehran, and after graduation, he worked as a faculty member of the photography department of Azad University. In 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟶, he started studying for a research doctorate in the field of fine arts with a specialization in photography at USM University of Malaysia, and after graduation, he was an assistant professor of the fine arts department of the faculty of art of this university for two years.
Fakhrian has published articles about photography in Persian and English in domestic and international magazines and journals and has participated in numerous individual and group exhibitions domestically and internationally. He has also judged many domestic and international photography festivals and competitions.

Mehrdad Najmabadi
Born in 𝟷𝟿𝟻𝟿, Tehran - Photography teacher
Bachelor of Photography Graduate, Masters of Art Research Graduate from University of Tehran, Faculty of Fine Arts

He is a well-known figure in the Iran’s academic photography field and since 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟺 he has been teaching the history of photography and photography workshops at the University of Tehran. He studied photography and art research at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran and had a great impact on photography students of Tehran University by teaching in these three decades. Many photography students have been introduced to the history of photography and the works of outstanding photographers for the first time in his class, and many others photos have been guided and developed by his side.
In his artistic career, he has been the judge of Tehran University's Photo Annuals and Iran Photo Biennial, supervising and managing student exhibitions inside and outside the Iran, participating in several group exhibitions, Collaboration can be seen in the authoring of several books as well as the authentication of albums and photographs of the Qajar period.

Ghazaleh Hedayat
Born in 𝟷𝟿𝟽𝟿, Tehran – photography teacher and contemporary artist
Bachelor of photography graduate from Faculty of Art and Architecture of Tehran Islamic Azad University, masters of new arts from academy of art, University of San Francisco, USA.

In addition to photography, Hedayat has used video media to create her pieces. as a teacher, she has cooperated with various universities, including university of Tehran, Islamic Azad university and Al-zahra university. She has also held many individual and group exhibitions in Tehran, as well as in America, Spain, England, France, etc. she has also won the Delfina Art Residency Award in London and the Anderson Ranch Art center in Colorado.

The Annual Photo Exhibition of the University of Tehran was held by the scientific association of this major since 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟼. Initially, this event aimed to study the state of academic photography in the context of Iranian art. since then, in order increase the academic value of this event, other activities were added such as lectures, artist talks, and screening documentaries about great photographers. Participants of these meetings gather in the Faculty of Fine Arts from different cities of the Iran (or in online meetings from all around the world during the pandemic) to create a friendly yet professional atmosphere and make more interactions between the academic photographers and other members of the photography community. in order to raise the scientific level of this event, an opportunity has been given to novel photography talents. The side section is dedicated to newfound photographer’s works so that the annual photo exhibition makes the community of Iranian photography more dynamic.

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