Hello, and welcome.
I am Persian, Gilak, Turk and Arab. I studied architecture before turning to photography and now mastering Digital Environment and Communication.
I work today as a documentarist and educator also running CultureLink as a co-founder.
Whether photography is an objective or a subjective way of making art interests me less than the fact that living is already subjective enough. That is reason enough to trust anyone's effort — and effort is what connects life, art, chance, solidarity, and, in the end, being an artist.
I am Persian, Gilak, Turk and Arab. I studied architecture before turning to photography and now mastering Digital Environment and Communication.
I work today as a documentarist and educator also running CultureLink as a co-founder.
Whether photography is an objective or a subjective way of making art interests me less than the fact that living is already subjective enough. That is reason enough to trust anyone's effort — and effort is what connects life, art, chance, solidarity, and, in the end, being an artist.
Three lifetime projects occupy most of my attention. Smaller stories happen along the way.
A nomination and the special jury mention at the Prix Elysée brought me to Switzerland, where I had the honour of working at Plateforme 10, the Lausanne arts district that brings together three museums of the canton of Vaud: Photo Elysée, mudac and MCBA.
Thank you for reading this far. The flying fish above is a Caspian sturgeon — the source of the world's most expensive caviar, and now on the verge of extinction.
A nomination and the special jury mention at the Prix Elysée brought me to Switzerland, where I had the honour of working at Plateforme 10, the Lausanne arts district that brings together three museums of the canton of Vaud: Photo Elysée, mudac and MCBA.
Thank you for reading this far. The flying fish above is a Caspian sturgeon — the source of the world's most expensive caviar, and now on the verge of extinction.
"Photography is a way to find love. Doesn't matter inside or out."
Khashayar Javanmardi
About
Khashayar Javanmardi (b. 1991) is a Persian documentarist. He grew up on the shorelines of the Caspian Sea, and his work keeps returning there — to the poetry of the Iranian coast, to the pressure of climate change and pollution on the sea itself, and to the lives that persist on its banks. The beauty and the damage arrive in the same frame, which is also how he sees his homeland. He is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. HGK.
MFA Yale University addmited/deffered due to the U.S new immigration restrictions on Iranians.
B.A in Photojournalism from Danish Media and Journalism School (DMJX).
A.S in Architecture from Guilan University Art and Architecture.
CultureLink Sarl
Switzerland
2026-Present
Official Photographer
Plateforme10 Foundation
Lausanne, Switzerland
2023 - 2026
Photographer
Photo Elysee Museum
Lausanne, Switzerland
2023 - 2026
Educator
Indipendant
2015 - Present
Ambassador
Save The Caspian Sea NGO
2025 - Present
Founder
MAMÂT Art Collective
2020 - 2023
Photographer
Jaam Photo Agency
2013-2015
Caspian; A Southern Reflection, published by LooseJoints, 2024
See The Caspian, Published by Elysee Museum, Nominee books, 2023
Biel/bienne, Switzeland
2026
Emerge 25, Midwest Center for Photography, MWCP, Kansas, USA
2025
Caspian Lake, First Museum Solo, Foam Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2025
Caspian Lake, SIFEST, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy
2025
Caspian, Alt+1000, Le Locle, Switzerland
2025
Caspian, Swiss Design Award, Art Basel, Base, Switzerland
2025
Caspian Is Not A Sea, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
2024
Caspian, Window 14 Gallery, Gevena, Switzerland
2024
Evidence Road, Silkroad Gallery, Paris Photo Fair, Paris, France
2023
Caspian Eyes, Choom Gallery, Anzali, Iran
2022
Looking for Tethys, Arqavan Gallery, Rasht, Iran
2022
Urban Portrain, Kommune Aarhus, Denmark
2021
Sheed Show, Silkroad Gallery, Tehran
2019
Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden Museum, Dresden, Germany
2019
2025
PhotoForum, First Prize, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
2024
Aperture Portfolio Shortlist, U.S
2024
TruePicture, Special Mention, Switzerland
2024
PhMuseum Grant, Second Prize, Spain
2024
Un/Fund Grant Award, Netherlands
2023
Lenzburg Fotofestival, Shortlisted, Switzerland
2023
Verzasca Foto Gold Medal, Switzerland
2023
Prix Elysee, Special Jury Mention, Switzerland
2023
ECCA Family Foundation, Grant Award, Denmark
2020
International Photography Grant, London, Nominee
2018
The Guardian; Observer Big Picture
Creative Review; Documenting life and decay along the Caspian Sea
CNN; Striking Photographs document environmental decay on world’s largest lake
Foul smells and survival along the Caspian Sea – in pictures
This Is Paper; Caspian
Collector Daily; Khashayar Javanmardi, Caspian; A Southern Reflection
Booooooom; Caspian
Save The Caspian Sea - Official Ambassador
Special Jury mention of Prix Elysee
Blind Magazine; Through Window; By Sabyl Ghoussoub
Musée Magazine; Caspian; A Southern Reflection
Artdaily, Caspian Sea’s environmental crisis
International Photography Magazine; To leave, or not to leave
Last Updated 28.12.2025
KHASHAYAR JAVANMARDI | STUDIO