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 that portrayed it as a land of freedom and dreams, while his own country faced ongoing internal and external political crises. His photographs are a personal attempt to connect with ordinary Americans beyond the boundaries of politics and propaganda, a quiet act of reconciliation that seeks to neutralize the divisions imposed by ideology.

For Derakhshani, photographing is not a one-sided act but a dialogue between himself, the subject, and the future viewer. He imagines both Iranian and American audiences looking at his portraits and hopes that, through these images, viewers from both cultures might recognize a shared humanity, a bridge between two worlds rather than an echo of political tension or media representation.

Derakhshani’s 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.