Pooyan Tabatabaei is an Iranian-Canadian Award-Winning Visual Storyteller known for capturing powerful images of conflict and humanitarian crises that have reached global audiences. Based between Tehran and Toronto, Pooyan has traveled the world since 1998, documenting the lives of diverse people across different cultures, religions, and beliefs.

His work, focusing on cultural issues and human rights, has been featured in renowned publications like Time Magazine, Toronto Star, Panorama, BBC, CBC, Polaris, and NVP. His dedication to the field has earned him prestigious accolades, including the Magnum Foundation Fellowship, a grant from the Pulitzer Center, and being named Journalist of the Year twice by the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada.

Pooyan has covered major global events in countries such as Libya, Iran, Egypt, and India. His formal education includes studies at Ershad University in Management, Human Rights Photography at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Cinema at Whistling Woods University in India, and courses at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD). In 2012, he received a full scholarship to become a Magnum Foundation Fellow in Social Justice Photography and later completed a Masterclass with the VII Photo Agency in 2019-2020.

Through his photography, Pooyan aims to authentically portray his subjects, creating images that resonate deeply with viewers, just as they did with him in the moment they were captured.