Country: Iran 🇮🇷
**Mohammad Ataei Mohammadi (Mohammad Ataei)**, born in 1983 in Iran and based in Golestan Province, is an independent documentary photographer, photographer and author, and senior photography instructor with more than 20 years of teaching experience at Iran’s Technical and Vocational Training Organization.
His photographic practice focuses on **documentary storytelling, people, social and environmental issues, cultural heritage, and the relationship between human life and the natural environment**. Through long-term photographic projects across Iran, he documents people, places, communities, traditions, landscapes, and the changing relationship between society and its surroundings.
Ataei has worked as a documentary photographer and photojournalist for Iranian news organizations and has received recognition in numerous national and international photography competitions and festivals. His distinctions include:
* **Merit Medal – HIPA (Hamdan International Photography Award), Dubai, 2024**
* **First Place – Siena International Photo Awards, Drone Photography – Urban, 2025**
* **Third Prize – Photometria International Photography Festival, Greece, 2024**
* **Top Photographer (Creative Series) – 1st National Mining Photo Festival, Iran, 2023**
* **Honorable Mention – Asahi Shimbun Photo Festival, Japan, 2024**
* **Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals and Ribbon – Summer ISFA Awards, Canada, 2023**
* **FIAP Gold Medal and Honorable Mention – George Barker International Photo Festival, Canada, 2023**
* **PSA Gold Medal and 11 Accepted Works – 3rd AMU Darya International Photo Festival, Tajikistan, 2023**
* **Commended Image – Bangladesh Photo Festival, 2024**
* **3 Accepted Works – IAAP World Cup, 2024**
* **Honorable Mention and 5 Accepted Works – Photo House Awards, Serbia, 2024**
* **Second Prize – KAF International Photo Festival, 2023**
* **First Prize and Special Award for Best Photojournalist – Caspian Without Borders Festival, Russia, 2023**
* **Third Prize and Bronze Medal – Mazarat Islamic Photo Festival, 2021**
* **Gold Medal – Bukovina International Photo Festival, Romania, 2021**
He holds a **master’s degree in photography** and is an active member of **FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique)** and the **Iranian Association of Cultural Heritage Photographers**.
His photographic archive includes long-term documentary projects on **people and everyday life in Iran, coal-mining communities, environmental change, drought, wetlands, cultural heritage, local traditions, and landscapes**. His work combines documentary observation with a strong interest in visual narrative and the social and environmental context of the places he photographs.
His portfolio, photographic archive, collections, and selected documentary projects are presented through **AtaPix**, his personal photography website:
[AtaPix — Mohammad Ataei Photography](https://www.atapix.ir/)
Through AtaPix, Ataei is building a structured digital archive of his photographic work from Iran, bringing together documentary projects, regional collections, stories, and individual photographs.
His photographic practice focuses on **documentary storytelling, people, social and environmental issues, cultural heritage, and the relationship between human life and the natural environment**. Through long-term photographic projects across Iran, he documents people, places, communities, traditions, landscapes, and the changing relationship between society and its surroundings.
Ataei has worked as a documentary photographer and photojournalist for Iranian news organizations and has received recognition in numerous national and international photography competitions and festivals. His distinctions include:
* **Merit Medal – HIPA (Hamdan International Photography Award), Dubai, 2024**
* **First Place – Siena International Photo Awards, Drone Photography – Urban, 2025**
* **Third Prize – Photometria International Photography Festival, Greece, 2024**
* **Top Photographer (Creative Series) – 1st National Mining Photo Festival, Iran, 2023**
* **Honorable Mention – Asahi Shimbun Photo Festival, Japan, 2024**
* **Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals and Ribbon – Summer ISFA Awards, Canada, 2023**
* **FIAP Gold Medal and Honorable Mention – George Barker International Photo Festival, Canada, 2023**
* **PSA Gold Medal and 11 Accepted Works – 3rd AMU Darya International Photo Festival, Tajikistan, 2023**
* **Commended Image – Bangladesh Photo Festival, 2024**
* **3 Accepted Works – IAAP World Cup, 2024**
* **Honorable Mention and 5 Accepted Works – Photo House Awards, Serbia, 2024**
* **Second Prize – KAF International Photo Festival, 2023**
* **First Prize and Special Award for Best Photojournalist – Caspian Without Borders Festival, Russia, 2023**
* **Third Prize and Bronze Medal – Mazarat Islamic Photo Festival, 2021**
* **Gold Medal – Bukovina International Photo Festival, Romania, 2021**
He holds a **master’s degree in photography** and is an active member of **FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique)** and the **Iranian Association of Cultural Heritage Photographers**.
His photographic archive includes long-term documentary projects on **people and everyday life in Iran, coal-mining communities, environmental change, drought, wetlands, cultural heritage, local traditions, and landscapes**. His work combines documentary observation with a strong interest in visual narrative and the social and environmental context of the places he photographs.
His portfolio, photographic archive, collections, and selected documentary projects are presented through **AtaPix**, his personal photography website:
[AtaPix — Mohammad Ataei Photography](https://www.atapix.ir/)
Through AtaPix, Ataei is building a structured digital archive of his photographic work from Iran, bringing together documentary projects, regional collections, stories, and individual photographs.