Hadi Salehi
Photographer and Humanitarian
“Loving people and all conditions of life was always my motto—as a human being and image maker. I photograph mankind around planet Earth in their natural habitats to show how they live, for people in this part of the world to understand and feel the lives of others. I am not a cultural messenger. Nor am I a master of photography. I am just a simple artist, trying to make change.”
Biography
Hadi Salehi is a master of the art of analog photography. His images capture diverse portraits that are powerful and soft, leaving a haunting quality that lingers in the psyche. Salehi seeks to create a collective awareness through his images. With a career that spans more than 40 years, Salehi has documented cultural innovators such as Keith Haring, as well as developed an expansive body of analog, digital, film, and mixed-media works.
Using myriad antique cameras and techniques, Salehi’s work begins with analog portraits of his subjects, treated in a painterly mixed-media fashion to create spontaneous and dynamic effects. Through this layering of positives and negatives and text and imagery, Salehi creates imagery that is unique and soulful. Salehi is a graduate of Art Center College of Design and currently resides in Los Angeles.