Khashayar Javanmardi STUDIO

Artist | Photographer | Educator
 

Life-time Projects
The Caspian Lake
WWW
Tales From Purgatory
DDQ

Stories
Grand Bazaar
Israel Palestine
Gang Style

Radiography Farsi (Podcast)
MAMÂT Art Collective

Information
Contact





KJAVAN
STUDIOKhashayar Javanmardi, born in 1991, is a Persian Non-Fiction photographer. Javanmardi’s poetic depictions of the Caspian Sea reflect his own upbringings along its shorelines, the urgent pressure of climate change and environmental degradation on this important body of water, and the lives that persist on its banks. Javanmardi’s sympathetic documentary voice captures both the mystery and poetry of the Iranian coastline, but also the stark contrast of pollution and destruction of the natural environment. Being made to leave Iran, Javamardi’s Caspian work also speaks of the contradictions of his homeland. Javanmardi is now based in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Education
A.S in Architecture from Guilan University Art and Architecture

B.A in Photojournalism from Danish Media and Journalism School (DMJX)

Addmited MFA from Yale University, deffered due to the U.S new immigration laws.

Employment Plateforme10, Lausanne, Switzerland
2023 - Present

Photo Elysee Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2023 - Present

Educator, 2015 - Present

Ambassador of Save The Caspian Sea NGO, 2025 - Present

Founder of MAMÂT Art Collective, 2020 - 2023

Photographer, Jaam Photo Agency, 2013-2015


Exhibitions
Upcoming... Biel/bienne, Switzeland 2026

Upcoming... Le locle, Switzerland 2026

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


AchivementsSwiss Design Award, Finalist, Switzerland, 2025

PhotoForum, First Prize, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

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


Press
Studio Visit; Khashayar Javanmardi

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


Publications
Upcoming... WWW1, by Four Eyes Edition

Caspian; A Southern Reflection, published by LooseJoints, 2024

See The Caspian, Published by Elysee Museum, Nominee books, 2023

Last Updated 14.12.25


The Caspian Sea is bounded by Iran on the South, Russia on the North, Azerbaijan on the West, and Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan on the East. It is known as a sea because it is the biggest lake in the world. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly independent states of Central Asia started exploiting the Caspian Sea. The primary sources of pollution in the Caspian Sea are the discovery, exploitation, and transfer of oil from the sea on the one hand and sewage, waste, and chemical poisoning on the other.



The five countries with a share in the Caspian Sea show no interest in conserving or saving it. This not only affects aquatic life but also threatens food security. Pollution of the Caspian Sea is one of the leading causes of economic losses in the northern provinces of Iran. Every year, about 122,000 tons of pollutants from Caspian coastal states (including oil pollution, domestic and industrial sewage, and different types of wastes, plastics, and contaminants from commercial fleets) pollute the marine environment and endanger other species.


Environmental degradation is also affecting the lives of local fishermen, with a 70 % reduction in the fishing rate in recent years. As a result, wages have fallen sharply, and, given that this is their only source of income, they are struggling to survive. It has been over a decade that the issue of sea pollution has been seriously considered. Environmentalists describe the acts of the surrounding countries concerning the biggest lake on the globe as an “ecological bomb”.



 According to NASA’s Earth Observatory project, scientists expect the water level in the Caspian Sea to fall rapidly in the coming decades and centuries. By the end of the 21st century, the sea level may fall by 9-18 meters, equal to a quarter of its territory – about 93,000 square kilometers, or the size of Portugal. The Caspian Sea is one of the world’s most important ecosystems. The lives of the residents alongside its coast, like the sea, are shrinking and becoming poorer. Few of its inhabitants know about their dark future due to livelihood problems and news censorship, but those who leave, and some of those who decide to stay, are well aware of its destruction.

     


Prix Photoforum 2024 - Exhibition at Bienne/Biel

In 2008, Caviar fishing in the Caspian Sea was banned to protect it from extinction. 




Van Verden map of the Caspian Sea
Annual Av Temp of the region
Foam Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2025 | Angle 1
Angle 2