Farhang Foundation proudly presents

REZA DEGHATI

Photojournalist, Philanthropist, Humanist

Farhang Foundation proudly presents Reza Deghati, known worldwide as simply REZA. Mr. Deghati is one of the world’s most renowned photojournalists and humanitarians, spanning a career of over 40 years. We welcome Mr. Deghati for a live virtual conversation with Dr. Houman Sarshar.

Learn more about REZA, his work and his latest books at: Reza.Photo

 

---

About Reza Daghati

A philanthropist, idealist, humanist, Reza Deghati’s career began with studies in architecture. He has gone on to become a renowned photojournalist who, for the last three decades, has worked all over the world, notably for National Geographic. His assignments have taken him to over a hundred countries as a witness to humanity’s conflicts and catastrophes. His work is featured in international media (National Geographic, Time Magazine, Stern, Newsweek, El País, Paris Match and many more) as well as a series of books, exhibitions, and documentaries.

Along with his work as a photographer, since 1983, Reza has been a volunteer committed to the training of youth and women from conflict-ridden societies using the language of images to help them strive for a better world. In 2001, he founded Ainaworld in Afghanistan, a new generation NGO which trains populations in information and communications through the development of educational tools and adapted media. While pursuing his reportages for international media outlets, Reza has continued to conduct workshops on the language of images through his association the Reza Visual Academy. He works with refugees, and urban youth in Europe and different megacities around the world.

Following his work on Memories of Exile, which was shown at the Louvre Carrousel in 1998, he has shared his humanitarian vision through a series of monumental installations among them: Crossing Destinies, shown on the fences of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, One World, One Tribe in Washington DC, War + Peace at the Caen Memorial, Hope in Doha, Windows of the Soul in Corsica, Soul of Coffee, plus 250 photographic exhibitions throughout the world, including major installations on the banks of the Seine, or at Kew Gardens in London, Land of Tolerance at the UN Headquarters in New York, the European Parliament in Brussels, as well as UNESCO in Paris, and The Elegance of Fire, presented at the Petit Palais in Paris.

Finally, the giant panorama A Dream of Humanity was featured along the banks of the Seine during the summer of 2015, showing portraits of refugees around the world taken by Reza and photographs taken by refugee children in Iraqi Kurdistan who were trained as “camp reporters” at the workshops organized by the Reza Visual Academy.

Reza has authored thirty books, and has been the recipient of many awards over the course of his career. He is a Fellow (2006-2012) and Explorer of the National Geographic Society since 2013, and a Senior Fellow of the Ashoka Foundation. His work has been recognized by World Press Photo; and he has also received the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, the Lucy Award, an honorary medal from the University of Missouri and the honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from the American University of Paris. He has also been appointed one of Frances top honors, as a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit.

---

About Houman Sarshar

Dr. Houman Sarshar received his Ph.D. in comparative literature from Columbia University in 2000. He is an independent scholar, a consulting editor and a contributing author to the Encyclopædia Iranica, as well as a contributing author to The Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. To date, Dr. Sarshar has edited and co-edited 7 volumes on the history of Jews in Iran, among them Esther’s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews and The Jewish Communities of Iran: Entries on the Judeo-Persian Communities of Iran Published by the Encyclopædia Iranica. He has also published numerous articles on modern Persian literature, including the entries on Nima Yushij and Sohrab Sepehri for the Encyclopædia Iranica. In addition to his academic writings, Dr. Sarshar is a private collector of modern Iranian art, with a collection of nearly 200 museum-qualities works by all the leading artists of the movement. Dr. Sarshar is also the founder of the Kimia Foundation, a culture foundation dedicated to promoting the art, culture, and history of Iran. With over 5,000 original photographs, the Kimia Foundation holds the largest archive of Qajar court photography outside the Golestan Palace in Tehran. Dr. Sarshar is presently working on his next book about the role of boy dancers in the history of Iran’s entertainment world.