Mehraban Mehrabani

Born in Tehran, Iran, Mehraban Mehrabani’s fascination with nature's exquisite beauty in its tiniest details started from an early age; a fascination, which years later he would rediscover through the lens of a camera. After graduating from University of California at Berkeley he moved to Hamburg, Germany. He bought his first Pentax camera in late 1970s and began photography as a hobby. During his frequent trips to Italy and Spain he met two prominent people who would help shape his passion for photography; Luciano Ricci, prominent Italian photographer and Mexican writer and photojournalist Agustin Salmon (Excelsior). Under their mentorship he established his own darkroom and held private exhibitions in both Florence and Madrid.
A trip to India in 1987 introduced him to the concept of Zen Buddhism, which profoundly affected his view towards life, as well as his approach to photography and his preference for traditional landscapes gradually shifted towards abstract views and minimalist compositions.
After moving to the U.S. in 1996, he took advanced photography courses in OSU (Oklahoma State University) to polish his technique both behind the camera and in the darkroom. In the U.S. he fully immersed himself in photography and received recognition from the professional community and general public. His first solo exhibition titled "International Architectural Images" in The Picture Art Gallery at OSU took place in March 2000. Two of the photographs he took during a photography workshop trip to Ouray Colorado along with other professional photographers were selected for display in Photography Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City for one full year. Another four pictures were selected for "The North Tulsa Project" for one decade, from 2001 to 2011. He participated in five group shows in The Picture Art Gallery at OSU until 2002, after which he relocated with his family to Canada and settled in Toronto.
In 2009, he had a private exhibition in Toronto titled "The Eternal Land, Iran" from his trip to Iran, where he extensively photographed regions of Fars, Yazd, Taleghan and Alborz Mountains with his Nikon D300. He participated in two groups shows in Toronto and seven of his images were showcased in "Contact International Photography Festival 2011" in Toronto. In North York, he had a solo exhibition at his Studio/Gallery Iris in January 2012. His last solo show titled +/- 33 was at Iranian Artists’ Forum, Paeez Gallery in Tehran, Iran.