Sensation by Tirdad Aghakhani

This collection does not take sides. It does not pass judgment on a person or idea. Rather, it serves as a reflection of my emotions and thoughts and symbolizes the choices we make.

It began with a fight, a simple argument in the car between me and my spouse at the beginning of a road trip. Over the course of a month, I photographed everything that happened between us at the various locations we traveled.

Some of the images photographed are from real events, and some photographs used directed reality Involvement that can show my imagination and dreams. Others use imagery, nature, and animals (Horse a symbol of the years my spouse and I were born in)to depict inner feelings and dreams.

The camera serves as a witness, observing the intimate moments and the end of my relationship unfolding before me. The series was photographed over a one month period in more than 50 locations in three states: Washington, Oregon, and California.

The new Fujifilm-x4 mirrorless camera is used for convenience, with a high processing power for taking HDR photos. By leveraging the latest technology used in this camera with special and unique colors from Fujifilm, photographs are captured by using a cinematic aesthetic. With camera filters and photo editing software, this collection is edited by creating images that capture the most vulnerable moments of self-discovery.



Sensations represent the physical experience of a moment and are a special part of being human. Sometimes these feelings are simple, so small or insignificant that we don’t notice. Sometimes a sensation evokes emotions we fear or try to avoid. Emotions play an important role in personal, social, and fate, and can be a powerful stimulator of sensations.

Sensations is a personal series that uses cinematic photography to depict the honest and emotional feelings of two lovers. The collection begins with the lovers on a road trip in the car where the first argument begins and ends in separation.

All photographs are inspired by true events that happened in my relationship with my husband. The title of each photograph represents the event or the sensation I felt in the moment, as depicted through the language of photography.




Tirdad Aghakhani
Tirdad Aghakhani is a photographer and visual artist based in California. His love for human beings is exhibited through his work, largely of ordinary people, artists, and fashion. His artistic and poetic vision behind the camera has shaped his unique style of photography.

When he was growing up, his mother fostered his innate passion for art. Tirdad graduated with a degree in graphic design and simultaneously discovered his love of photography. In 2006, he was hired as the director of one of the largest photography studios in Iran until fleeing to Turkey in 2012 as a gay refugee. In Turkey he was hired as a post-production manager for a professional commercial photography studio, working as a photographer and graphic designer for multiple European companies through 2015.

He continued to photograph portraits of refugees as an ongoing project, which resulted in a series named Torang (Pheasant), which deals with the life of an Iranian refugee female dancer and was later featured as part of a 2017 exhibition in Los Angeles. He pursued a Master of Arts in Photography from Academy of Art University and graduated in 2020.

His photographs have won multiple awards and been published in various magazines, including Vogue Italia. His quest for new experiences has made him an artist with a wide range of skills and unique works.