Farhad began to work with the Associated Press in the Middle East in 2007, and in 2009 he was nominated for a World Press Photo award for the Best Young Talented Photographer in the MENA region.
In 2013 he was offered a scholarship to study Documentary Photography and Photojournalism at the University of Arts in London and he has stayed in the UK ever since.
His artwork has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC and the Guardian, amongst others. Since his graduation from the University of Arts London, Farhad has exhibited his works such as Shahre Farang and Stamps to Elsewhere at various galleries and festivals across the UK.
In 2018 he showcased his work Afghan Camera Box as part of the Who Are We? project in collaboration with Counterpoints Arts, b-side Festival and Tate Exchange.
For this project, Farhad used the traditional Afghan Camera, or ‘kamra-e-faoree’ which is still used by street photographers today in Afghanistan and Iran. Thanks to the wooden-camera’s ability to act as both a camera and a darkroom, Farhad was able to present visitors with an individual copy of their portrait once it had been processed.
In a short film commissioned by Counterpoints Arts, film director Marcia Chandra accompanies Farhad as he takes portraits with his Afghan Camera Box and discusses his identity as an Iranian artist in the U.K.
Farhad presented his Afghan Camera participatory project at Counterpoints Arts curated collaborations with Turner Contemporary, as part of Platforma 5 Festival in Kent in 2019, and as part of Mayor of London’s Eid celebrations at Trafalgar Square.
