TEHRAN – Veteran photographer Hadi Shafaieh who was considered as the alchemist of photographers in Iran died in his home in the U.S. city of Columbus in the state of Ohio on Wednesday. He was 95. 

Shafaieh was born in Tabriz in 1923. He received his early education in Tabriz and later in Tehran where he established the Hadi Studio in 1955. 

The studio gradually became the center of attention for creating skillful portraits of literary figures, including Nima Yushij, the father of Persian blank verse.

In 1971, Shafaieh was invited to teach photography at the University of Tehran, which established photography as a field in 1982 and asked Shafaieh to teach the related courses. 

In 1989, Shafaieh moved to Ohio in order to be closer to his children.  

Photo: Hadi Shafaieh in an undated photo 

RM/MMS/YAW