About
Mehraban Mehrabani
Fine art Photographer
Born in Tehran, Iran, Mehraban’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 Florence, Italy and Madrid, 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 dark room 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 dark room. In the U.S he fully immersed himself in photography and received recognition from within the professional community and general public: His first solo show titled "International Architectural Images" in The Picture Art Gallery at OSU in March 2000. Two of the photos 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 his family to Canada and settled down 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.
In May 2013, he held his solo show at I r a n i a n F o r u m ", Paeez Gallery, Titled: " + / - 3 3 ".
His last solo show titled " B e y o n d V i s i o n " was at Elahe Gallery in Tehran, in April 2014.
Education:
Exhibitions:
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 dark room. In the U.S he fully immersed himself in photography and received recognition from within the professional community and general public: His first solo show titled "International Architectural Images" in The Picture Art Gallery at OSU in March 2000. Two of the photos 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 his family to Canada and settled down 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.
In May 2013, he held his solo show at I r a n i a n F o r u m ", Paeez Gallery, Titled: " + / - 3 3 ".
His last solo show titled " B e y o n d V i s i o n " was at Elahe Gallery in Tehran, in April 2014.
Education:
- University of California, Berkeley - B.S. in Business Administration (1966 - 1970)
- Oklahoma State University, Visual Arts, Advanced Photography courses (2000-2001)
Exhibitions:
- Solo exhibition titled "Memories in Form", Private event " By Sahar", Toronto, Canada (2019)
- 3rd Grand Festival of "Art for Peace", Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran, Iran ( 2015)
- Group show "Image of Women in Contemporary Iranian Art", Yerevan, Armenia (2015)
- Group show "Didar", Mojdeh Gallery / Tehran / Baran Gallery, Rafsanjan, Iran (2014)
- Solo exhibition titled "Beyond Vision" "( Farasooy-e Negaah )" , Elahe Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2014)
- Solo exhibition titled "+/-33", Iranian Artists’ Forum, Paeez Gallery, Tehran, Iran (2013)
- Group show titled “Wall”, Nami (NICCA) group, Arta Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2013)
- Solo exhibition at Iris Studio / Gallery , North York, Ontario, Canada (2012)
- Contact International Photography Show, Arta Gallery , Toronto ,Canada ( 2011)
- The Seventh Group Summer exhibition, Arta Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2010)
- Iranian Artists Group Exhibition at Arta Gallery, Toronto, Canada (2010)
- Private Solo Exhibition ( Iran, The Eternal Land ) in Richmond Hill, ON., Canada ( 2009 )
- Group show for North Tulsa Project at OSU (2001).
- Group show at Oklahoma City Hall of Fame ( 2001)
- 5 Group exhibitions at Picture Gallery in Tulsa ( 2000 to 2002)
- Solo Exhibition ( Architecture International ) at Picture Gallery in Tulsa, OK. USA (2000)
- Private solo and group exhibitions in Florence & Madrid ( 1980 - 84 )