Solmaz Daryani is a self-taught, Iranian Azeri photographer and photojournalist, based between the UK and Iran. Her work explores the connections between socio-economic disruption, climate change migration, water scarcity, and the environment in her native Iran. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the Islamic Azad University in Tehran. Daryani has worked internationally, covering social and environmental stories in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Solmaz is the recipient of the 2021 FotoEvidence W Award for “Eyes of the Earth” a long-term investigation into the environmental and human impact of the drying of Lake Urmia, one of the most unfortunate environmental disasters in Iran. This work also received IdeasTap and Magnum Photos grants in 2015. In 2016, she received the Magnum Foundation Photography in Collaboration grant for “On Religion,” a project documenting the intersection of religion and environment with a focus on the Mandaeans minority religious community and their interaction with the Muslim community in Ahvaz, in south-western Iran. Solmaz was granted by the VII Academy a scholarship to attend the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
Her work has been published by international magazines and newspapers including: National Geographic, L’OBS Magazine, Foreign Policy, Polka, and Zenith among others.
