Ali Tahayori’s interdisciplinary practice ranges from conceptual photography to the moving image and installation. Tahayori uses archival materials, narrative fragments and performative modalities to explore themes of identity, home, and belonging. Combining fractured mirrors with text and imagery, his works draw on ancient Iranian philosophies about light and mirrors to create kaleidoscopic experiences; moments of both revelation and concealment hint at the conflicted nature of his identity. Translating the traditional Iranian craft of Āine-Kāri (mirror-works) into a contemporary visual vocabulary, his practice combines a discourse about diaspora and displacement with an exploration of queerness – in both cases, poignantly testifying to his experience of being othered. Born in Shiraz, Iran, Tahayori currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia (Gadigal country). Raised in the oppressively homophobic climate of 1980s Iran, Tahayori assumed the identity of an outsider, further compounded by his migration to Australia in 2007. He holds a Doctorate in Medicine and an MFA in Photomedia from the National Art School. Tahayori is Recipient of the Onslow Storrier NAS Residency at La Cité Internationale Des Arts, Paris, which he will undertake in 2026. In 2025 he was the Recipient – of the NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging), Artspace and Create NSW. He has exhibited widely both in Australia and internationally. His work is curated into Molten Tongues at Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne 2026, and in 2025 in Five Acts of Love, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne; rūḥ al-rūḥ – jan-e janān: West Space, Melbourne; On Display, Artbank, Melbourne. and Queer Contemporary - Chaosophy, National Art School, Sydney. In 2024 his work was shown in Photo London and at MIA Photo Fair, Milan, curated by Roya Khadjavi Projects; and To look each other in the eye, Ideas Platform, Artspace, Sydney; and in From Fire - Ali Tahayori + NC Qin, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney 2023. Tahayori was awarded Winner of the Burwood Art Prize 2024; Winner of Prix Yves Hernot Photography Award, National Art School, Sydney 2022 and Winner of the Smith and Singer People’s Choice Award, William & Winifred Bowness Photography Prize 2021. He has been a finalist in a number of prizes in Australia and internationally including 69th Blake Prize, Casula Powerhouse 2026; in 2025 the Olive Cotton Award; Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize; and William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize; and in 2024 the Nikon Emerging Photographer Award, Photo London 2024; National Photography Prize, MAMA Albury; PhMuseum Photography Grant, Bologna, Italy; National Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. In 2023 he was a finalist in prizes including the Fisher's Ghost Art Award and Vantage Point, Sharjah UAE in 2022.