Montreal Marketeers Episode 32 – Aydin Matlabi on Humanitarian Photography, Foundation F64, and Visual Storytelling

Discover how award-winning humanitarian photographer Aydin Matlabi uses portrait and landscape photography to amplify marginalized voices and support social justice initiatives. This in-depth Montreal Marketeers Podcast episode reveals how Matlabi, who arrived in Montreal as a young refugee from Iran, channels his lived experiences of displacement and identity into art that drives awareness and real-world impact.

Aydin’s journey began in refugee camps and turbulent city neighborhoods, leading him eventually to a pivotal moment when a college professor handed him a camera. That act not only set the course for Aydin’s lifelong photojournalism mission but also sparked his ongoing role as a documentarian of Montreal’s gay pride events. Today, Aydin’s images are recognized for their authenticity and their ability to reveal the effects of absence, struggle, and migration on one’s sense of home and identity. He is the founder of Foundation F64, a nonprofit modeled after the iconic f/64 group that shaped documentary photography in Depression-era America. In a break from extractive media cycles, Foundation F64 enables the subjects themselves to benefit from the storytelling, using visuals in service of NGOs and local organizations so that financial and social returns reach the communities depicted.

Throughout the episode, you’ll learn how Aydin uses his camera to tell the stories of children’s rights, women’s empowerment, queer identity, and post-conflict healing. He shares why he only pursues projects that deliver measurable benefit to those most affected, and how he mentally prepares for the challenge of moving between war zones and vibrant festivals. Every story and photograph is rooted in partnership with the subjects, not exploitation, making his approach a new standard for ethical, mission-driven visual media.

Show Highlights and Topics

• Duration: 66 minutes

• Storytelling and advocacy through humanitarian and war photography

• Founding Foundation F64 to shift narrative power

• The ethos: “If a picture ain’t good enough… you ain’t close enough”

• Challenging academic, media, and societal conventions

• Leaving home, facing persecution, and returning to celebrate joy

• Using art as a tool for empowerment, not just observation

• Preparing mentally for transitions between conflict zones and festivals

• Ensuring projects positively impact the people and regions documented