Solmaz Daryani is an Iranian documentary photographer based in Iran and the UK. She is a former grantee of the Magnum Foundation and National Geographic Society. Solmaz began her career as a documentary photographer in Iran in 2013; since 2017, she has been living in the United Kingdom.

Through her art practice, Solmaz explores the manifold relationships between people and their environments. She identifies potent locations and communities from which personal narratives emerge. She views photography as a storytelling medium, preferring to work over extended periods to understand the longitudinal impact of age and development on people and landscapes. Whether examining water scarcity or climate-driven migration, her images evoke both the present moment and the ravages.

Her long-term work, The Eyes of Earth has received multiple accolades, including the 2015 London Magnum Photos Grant, the 2020 Alexandra Boulat scholarship, the 2018 PhotogrVphy Grant, and the 2021 FotoEvidence Book Award.

She graduated from Tabriz University with a degree in computer science in 2011 and later pursued her passion for photography through self-study. She also continued her education at the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX) in 2020.

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Awards and Grants:
2021 Winner: FotoEvidence W Book Award (FR)
 2021 Winner: Royal Photography Society Science Photographer of the Year (GB)
2020 Award of Excellence: College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) (US)
2020 Recipient of The Alexandra Boulat scholarship from VII Academy to study at DMJX
2020 Runner-up for Marilyn Stafford Fotoreportage Grant (GB)
2019 Finalist in The IWPA Award by the International Women Photographers Association (FR)
2018 Second Place, 2018 PhotogrVphy Grant in the category of Climate
2018 Shortlisted for IWPA Award, the International Women Photographers Association (FR)
2017 Recipient of Magnum Foundation “On Religion” collaborative photography Grant (US)
2016 Recipient of IdeasTap with Magnum Photos Grant (GB)
2016 Shortlisted for D&AD Next Photographer Award (GB)
2016 Shortlisted for PDN's 30 Photographers to Watch
2015 Shortlisted for Sheed Grant (Independent Award for Documentary Photography)
2013 Tirgan Contemporary Art Prize Award (CA)
2013 Shortlisted for Bursa International Photography Festival (TR)
Exhibitions:
2024 Stepping Soft On The Earth 18 November 2023-14 April 2024 at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK)
2023 Backlight 2023 Festival, Tampere Art Museum, curated by Harri Palviranta, Finland
2023 MEI Art Gallery, River Flows Downstream, curated by Roï Saade, Washington D.C
2023 Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Sharjah 2022 Cortona on The Move Culture Makers for a Climate-Just Future November 10-December 15, 2022, Paris (FR)
2022 When the well is dry - August 20-December 10, 2022, Vermont (U.S)
2022 Biennale of Female Photography - Edition II, Mantova (IT)
2020 After Us, The Flood in KUNST HAUS WIEN ecological museum, Wien (AT)
2020 Brooklyn, NYC, Photoville’s Artists to Watch (US)
2020 PhEST International Festival of Photography and Art, Monopoli (IT)
2020 My Environment International Festival, Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin (DE)
2019 F2 Fotofestival on Water and Justice, Dortmund (DE)
2019 Brooklyn, NYC, UNDP’s exhibition; Inequality and climate change at Photoville (US)
2019 Group show, IRAN, 1979-2019 MAUPETIT CÔTÉ Gallery, Marseille (FR)
2019 IWPA travelling exhibition, La Galerie, Dubai, Alliance Française
2018 Group show “REAL IRAN”, Gallery Mandarin, Paris (FR)
2017 “Iran Anne 38” Group show, Les Rencontres d’Arles Festival, Arles (FR)
2016 PondyPHOTO India International Art Festival (IN)
2013 Bursa Photo Festival, Colors of Life exhibition, Bursa (TU)
2013 Tirgan Iranian/Canadian Art and Culture Festival and Visual art exhibition (CA)
2013 HIPA Photo Contest annual Book exhibition in Wollongong University of Dubai (UAE)