Biography
Cornell Capa, renowned photographer and journalist, believes ; “Photography has the capacity to provide images of man and his environment that are both works of art and moments of history”. PezhmanZiaian believed in the same; as a child he was very interested in drawing, young Pezhman accomplished a rank for color pencil drawing. His immense passion was to capture the moment; hence his interest evolved towards photography. Then he could freeze the moment through the lens much faster than sketching on canvas.
Pezhman Ziaian was born on October 20, 1966, in Tehran, Iran. He grew up and completed his education in Shiraz. He always admired films and photos. His family noticed Pezhman’s interest and encouraged him by enrolling his name at a fine art Institute. He started photography when he was 11 and winning his first National Award for photography at the age of 17. He graduated in photography from Berkeley Professional University, The USA. For him studies set the routes to growth and experience has always been the key to his success.
For the first time as a professional photographer he exhibited his works in Iran, in 1991. This was the starting point for other 77 galleries in his homeland and other countries like Germany, France, United Kingdom, Austria, Japan and United Arab Emirates.
In 1996, General-Anzeiger, a daily German newspaper presented him the award for the best photograph of the year. He won the award for a set of portraits of a child with unique facial expressions.
The result of his hard work and creativity in photography lead to establishing of Pezhhan Advertising Company in Iran, which locally has been one of the leading advertising company with over a quarter of century service. He believes that “Pezhhan is the fulfillment of a dream”. PezhmanZiaian’s four-year aerial photography by helicopter over magnificent city of Dubai facilitated in laying 150 insightful images together into a volume titled “Dubai, a view from above”. The book was released in March 2012. His other published pictorial books are Shiraz (2002), Vienna (2005) and Paris (2006).
An exclusive selection of his works of art has been displayed at Terminal one, Dubai international airport since December 2nd 2011- the 40th anniversary of the independence of the United Arab Emirates. The gallery welcomes the public until the end of December 2012. Along his achievements in the field of Photography, he played a fundamental and key role in forming a team to create the first and most comprehensive Iranian virtual encyclopedia known as Arianica.
While expanding the boundary of his business, Pezhman founded “Baby Face Photo” an exclusive children photo studio in the UK in 2009. His ambitious spirit takes him up to a new horizon again and he who believes in challenge, steps forward towards improvement and thus “Baby Face Photo” was established in Dubai in 2011. The intention behind this studio is to capture the unrepeatable moments of children’s growth.
1. For his previous artistic contributions, a ceremony was held to acknowledge and appreciate his efforts, in the 22th Tehran International Book Fair, and he was awarded the Distinguished Artist Certificate of Appreciation; following that, a postage stamp bearing his picture was issued in his memory.
2. His profound interest in cultural activities and his support for book publication encouraged him to publish such books as The Morn Breeze (2015), The Recluse (2016), and In Memory of the Wind (2017), in which he published his select photos.
3. The outcome of over thirty-five years of doing activities in cultural and artistic areas was collecting more than 64 appreciation plaques of honor and statuettes, and 38 certificates of appreciation awarded by governmental and cultural authorizes. Over the same period, he has managed to obtain 65 academic/educational certificates.
4. In 2018, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance granted to him the highest Order of Art in Iran and introduced him as a major and renowned artist in the country. This title was accompanied by a Doctoral Degree in Photography.
5. His desire for photography has brought him name, fame and a collection of over 35000 pieces of images which undoubtedly took many years with ups and downs, but he modestly considers his artistic life as merely three hours; the total time of about 35000 clicks.
- Biographer : Kyoumars H. Freeman
