About Parham Donyai

Parham Donyai is an artistic photographer whose photographs have been featured in magazines, TV and his concept store featuring his photo gallery was the runner up of The Retail Week Awards for best design in the UK. Parham's photographs feature unusually varied themes from landscape to fitness and incredible digitally created works.

Parham was born in Tehran, Iran in 1971. His parents took him to London, England in 1985 to escape the war with Iraq.

​Parham’s passion has always been film and photography and from around 12 years of age, he has been with a camera in hand. Unlike most people who follow their passion and they may or may not become successful at it, Parham took a different route.

In the early 1990s Parham qualified in law and after a short stint as a lawyer, he quit to start his first company, a sports nutrition company. Photography was very much a part of this company and Parham began photographing many of the world champion athletes and fitness models during this time. His book, Body Builder, a Photographic Perspective was published in 2005.

Parham took his passion for film and photography a step further by starting The Active Channel on the SKY platform in 2009. This TV channel, costing in excess of £1m a year went on to become Europe’s number 1 health & fitness channel, later on being added to many other platforms such as Freesat.

The Active Channel had its own full time film and photography crew led by Parham and produced many programmes and documentaries which were sold and distributed worldwide.

In 2015, Parham’s vision of a gallery-style shop in Richmond, London, England was turned into reality with a store designed by him that went on to win the runner up prize in the 2015 Retail Week Awards. Many of Parham’s photographs were showcased in this store.

Parham’s photographic works have been featured in many magazines & TV programmes over the years. His framed 1 of 1 limited art pieces have been sold to wealthy friends, private collectors and corporations and they sit in luxury homes as well as corporate HQs.

As an entrepreneur and founder of several multi-million dollar companies, Parham does not devote all his time to photography, though it is becoming a more active part of his life since reaching the age of 50. Some of his photos are now available for purchase exclusively through The Foto Collection.

Parham splits his time between Gibraltar, London, Marbella, Lisbon, Miami and The Algarve. As of 2023 Parham is devoting time to creating incredible digital art, some of which can be purchased from this website.

For those who like the style and versatility of Parham’s photos and would like him to take a specific photo or a series of photos for them, they can get in touch with him through The Foto Collection's Contact page for a bespoke project quote.