I photograph because I want to remember…to remember moments that will likely turn into smoke. I am afraid of forgetting these moments and with photography I have a way of creating memory, freezing time and turning it into a physical and easily accessible form; the photograph.

I graduated from California College of the Arts (CCA…formerly CCAC) in 2000 on the Dean’s List with a BFA in Photography and Film-Video Production. My mentor at CCA was Larry Sultan, a teacher who was a working photographer, who helped guide me through the creative muck as I attempted to better understand documentary photography and its nuances.

After teaching for a short time at CCA, I left the United States and worked as a photojournalist in Berlin, Germany. I was part of a project that followed the lives of expatriates in Berlin, writing articles and photographing for magazines in the United States, France and Germany. My first published article was in *surface magazine, a magazine I had been an intern with from 1999-2000. After 8 months in Berlin I moved to New York City where I continued working for editorial clients. Since moving to New York I have expanded from editorial to include fashion, advertising and stock imagery for Getty Images, Monsoon and Corbis.

In 2007 I released my first photography book, Cue the Strings. The book is filled with 10 years of photographs that explore the trials, tribulations, friends, lovers, haters and events that shaped my/our lives. Also, in September 2007, I began 1234 NYC, a photography project that follows the lives of New Yorkers. 1234 NYC is a ten-year photography project that focuses on 40 friends and acquaintances of mine who are small business owners, students and those who work in the creative sector of industry and art. 1234 NYC culminates in four photographs of these people over ten years time (1+2+3+4); the second stage of this project started in Autumn of 2009 and will continue into Autumn of 2010.

My documentary work continued when I was asked to work with the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies on a project entitled, Document: Iranian-Americans in Los Angeles with three other photographers. This project began October 2009 and ended January 2010 and will be exhibited at the Fowler Museum from June 6th 2010 to August 22nd 2010. Document: Iranian-Americans tackles the everyday lives of 2nd Generation Iranian-Americans living in Los Angeles. Organized and curated by Amy Malek, the project also addresses the processes of documentation and how the three photographers and I relate to our own hyphenated Iranian identities.

In addition to photography I also work in film production, post-production and write screenplays. I have worked with both Shoja Azari and Shirin Neshat on their films and my company, Death On Holiday Films, has produced and directed two short films with members of the Upright Citizens Brigade ensemble. In screenwriting, two of my feature length scripts have gotten into the final phase of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab Competition and a third one is in the works.

"The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." – Henry Miller.

"Mongo like candy." – Mongo.