Mandana Mahdavi is a documentary photographer, currently based in the USA. Born to Iranian/German parents, she was raised in London, with years spent in Madrid and New York. After obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Sciences from University College London in 2006, she began her career in fine art as a Graduate Assistant at Sotheby’s. In 2010, she graduated with a Masters in Management from Bayes Business School and began working as a Marketing Executive for Revolver Entertainment, a film distributor. After attending the London Institute of Photography in 2017, she began work on a long-term project on modern masculinity and identity. Her work was selected as part of the group exhibition at the Free Range Shows held at The Old Truman Brewery in London. In 2021, she was selected to participate in the Eddie Adams Workshop XXXIV and was awarded the Documentary Arts Fellowship for her project, This Place Called Home, a multimedia piece on an urban regeneration development during the pandemic in Clapton, East London. She recently graduated from the International Center of Photography’s Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program in New York, where she was the recipient of the Director’s Fellowship. In 2023, her ongoing project, ÂME, received an honourable mention by the Lucie Foundation in the Emerging Artist category and was a finalist of The Alexia Grant.
Acheivements
2024 Rita K. Hillman Foundation Fellowship, The Rita Hillman and Alex Foundation, USA
2024 New York Portfolio Review, USA
2023 The Alexia Student Grant (Finalist), The Alexia, USA
2022 Emerging Artist Scholarship (Honorable Mention), Lucie Foundation, USA
2021 Eddie Adams Workshop XXXIV, USA
2021 Documentary Arts Fellowship, Documentary Arts, USA
2021 Director’s Fellowship, International Center of Photography, USA
Education
2023 Journalism and Trauma, Poynter Center, USA
2022 (Advanced) Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism, International Center of Photography, USA
2021 Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism, International Center of Photography, Online
2017 Professional Photography Course, London Institute of Photography, UK
2010 Management MSc, Bayes Business School, UK
2006 Biomedical Sciences BSc, University College London, UK
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Parallel Horizons, Chashama, USA
2023 Faculty and Staff Showcase, International Center of Photography, USA
2022 Shifting Selves, International Center of Photography Museum, USA
2021 This Was the Year That Was, International Center of Photography, USA
2018 Free Range Shows, The Old Truman Brewery, UK
Selected Features
2023 Musee Magazine, ‘Parallel Horizons: An International Photography Collective Exhibition in Chelsea’, October 2023
2023 Blind Magazine, ‘A New Collective is Born in New York’, September 2023
2023 Visura, ‘Parallel Horizons features nine international artists navigating landscapes of transformation’, September 2023
2023 Artdoc, ‘Parallel Horizons’, September 2023
2023 The Alexia at Newhouse/Syracuse University, ‘A Look Back: The Alexia 2023 Winners’, May 2023
Selected Publications
2024 Der Greif, Featured Photographer
2023 PhotoVogue, Featured Photographer
2022 Shift Magazine, Featured Photographer
Talks
2023 Artist Talk at the Parallel Horizons Exhibition, Chashama, moderated by Alexey Yurenev