Persian Food Photography
Photography has been a lifelong pursuit, sparked in elementary school with my first Kodak and Polaroid cameras. By high school, my interest deepened into a serious craft as I acquired semi-professional cameras of the time, including a Canon FTB 35mm SLR and a Yashica medium format TLR. Seeking to improve my skills, I formalized my training through dedicated semester-long college photography courses during my undergraduate years at George Washington University. This technical foundation eventually earned me a staff photographer role at the student newspaper, The Hatchet, and later, the prestigious position of photography editor for the university yearbook, The Cherry Tree.
Today, my culinary work and photography are inseparable. As I test and refine recipes in my home kitchen, I simultaneously document them—capturing dishes in their natural moment of completion rather than through staged photo shoots. This “just-in-time” approach produces a broad and seasonally responsive visual archive, allowing me to record fleeting ingredients and authentic preparations central to Persian cookery.
My photographic philosophy is simple: I present each dish as it would appear in a traditional Persian home—minimally styled, structurally clear, and faithful to the integrity of the food itself. Because I have known these dishes since childhood, I photograph them with an understanding of how they are meant to look—an understanding that ensures visual authenticity while helping readers recognize when a dish has been properly prepared.
Below is a small selection from my growing body of Persian food photography.
