Firooz Zahedi

Firooz Zahedi
Firooz Zahedi
Born	Firooz Zahedi; 1949 (age 74–75); Tehran, Iran
Nationality	American
Occupation	Photographer
Spouse	Beth Rudin DeWoody
Children	1

Firooz Zahedi (born 1949) is an American photographer of Iranian descent.

Early life

Firooz Zahedi was born in Tehran, Iran in 1949. His family moved to England where he received his secondary education. In 1969 he came to the US to attend George Washington University in Washington DC. He graduated with a degree in Foreign Service in 1973.^{[citation needed]}

Career

After graduation, Zahedi served briefly as a diplomat for the former government of Iran but resigned to go to the

Corcoran School of Art from which he received a degree in visual communication in 1976.^{[citation needed}

]

While at art school he began photographing for

Interview magazine and served as its Washington DC correspondent.^[1]

In May 1976 he met and became friends with Elizabeth Taylor and soon after they traveled together to Iran. The photographs from that trip, which included the actress dressed in local tribal costumes, alongside portraits he took of her on the set of A little Night Music in Vienna became the subject of the cover story of Andy Warhol's Interview magazine in October 1976.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978 he accompanied Elizabeth Taylor to Hollywood as her personal photographer on the set of the film Return Engagement.^{[citation needed]}

He settled in Los Angeles to pursue his photographic career.^[2] He subsequently moved to Los Angeles, and started his professional career as a photographer.

In 1988 he was assigned by

Architectural Digest and Entertainment Weekly

.

Some of the celebrities he has photographed include Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Bette Midler, Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, John Travolta, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.^{[citation needed]}

Zahedi shot covers for a number of Barbra Streisand's albums, including Release Me, Love is the Answer, Back to Broadway, and Timeless: Live in Concert.

Firooz has appeared as a guest photographer on CW's America's Next Top Model.

Exhibitions

In February 2011 a collection of his photographs of Elizabeth Taylor in Iran was exhibited at the Los Angeles County museum of Art.^{[citation needed]}

His portraits and fine art photography have been shown in New York at the Staley Wise gallery and Leila Heller Gallery. Internationally at the Laleh June Gallery in Basel, Switzerland, and the Doha and Dubai Art Fairs.^{[citation needed]}

A solo show of his work, Firooz Zahedi: Photographs and collages was held April 26 to June 7, 2014, at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Zahedi's son, Darian, is also a photographer as well as a musician. He has played with bands including The Rondelles and CRX. In 2012, Zahedi married Beth Rudin DeWoody, daughter of New York City real estate developer Lewis Rudin.^[3]