Maziyar Derakhshani is an Iranian-born photographer and MFA candidate in Studio Art at the University of Alabama, where he also teaches digital photography. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Set Design from the University of Tehran, College of Fine Arts.

Raised in Iran, Derakhshani grew up with a mediated image of the United States, filtered through cinema and under the shadow of the political tension between Iran and America. His photography explores the complexities of identity, perception, and cultural misrepresentation. Focusing on portraits of everyday Americans, he questions how people see and are seen across national and ideological divides. Through direct engagement with strangers, his work creates encounters that invite reflection on the power of media, memory, and mutual recognition.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including in Austria, Iran, and the United States, and is part of the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art. He is a two-time recipient of the Levitetz Seed Grant and was awarded the Graduate Student Research Award by the Collaborative Arts Research Initiative in 2024.