I am Jahan Golestani, a photographer and writer. For more than a decade, I have explored the world through photography, while also writing short stories, novels, essays, and poems since 2016.

My path to photography was not a straight one. I hold a Ph.D. in Biorefinery – Pulp and Paper Sciences from the Grenoble Institute of Technology. After several years of research and professional work, I chose to follow my favorite fields: photography and writing. That decision led me here.

I began with street photography, which remains at the heart of my practice and naturally evolved into documentary work. I have completed two street photography collections and one documentary project, and I am currently engaged in several ongoing documentary series.

The real and the imagined, the seen and the thought, constantly shape and influence each other. This tension guides my conceptual and fine-art work, where I create photomontages using my own images from the outside world and the studio. I have completed one photomontage collection and am now working on a new series, along with a body of conceptual studio photography.

Swinging between reality and imaginary, from what is in front and what is in behind, what is seen and what is thought, each influence and get influence from another, and together shape a system; a complex system. Documentary and conceptual photography help me as an ever-wandering explorer to position the truth and the meaning at every moment of life and to recognize the surrounding world, knowing that this recognition is not achievable, but maybe approachable. 

On the writing side, I have finished several short stories and poems ready to publish, and I’m also working on a novel. I also mix the photo and poetic essay and am preparing my first collection of poetic text-image.

I welcome collaboration with media, magazines, and cultural institutions on documentary projects, as well as with curators and publishers in the field of conceptual and fine-art photography. I am always open to new creative partnerships and look forward to future collaborations with enthusiasm.