Hossein Farmani

Hossein Farmani is an international photographer, gallerist, exhibition curator, philanthropist and founder and president of the Lucie Awards in New York, International Design Awards, Px3, Paris Photo Prize and LICC, London Creative Awards, Focus on AIDS and Farmani Gallery.

Farmani was born in Tehran, Iran, and at age of 9 started acting in the local children’s library theater. A few years later, at the age of 14, he started the Black Cat musical and theater group, which toured all over Iran. Hossein moved to Los Angeles in 1975, and began his studies at Hollywood Academy in Hollywood, California. He studied cinema and photography at Orange Coast College. In 1980, after graduating from Golden West College, he worked at a professional photo lab, and later started his own photography studio in Costa Mesa, California.

In 1984, he started VUE magazine, the first fashion magazine in Orange County, distributed around the world. Many major photographers contributed to the magazine, including Philip Dixon, Greg Gorman, Herb Ritts, Matthew Rolston, Helmut Newton, Jeff Dunas, Elliott Erwitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and others.

Farmani brought together Susan Baraz, Candace Falk, Robert Berman, Ron Bakal and Laura Hinds to start the Focus on AIDS Foundation to help create awareness and raise money to fund research and care. Focus on AIDS is 100% volunteer group that has raised millions of dollars and funded many organizations. Over 500 major photographers have donated works to the Focus on AIDS Photography Auction.

Farmani started the Foto-Folio Magazine, a photography magazine that is now in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

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