"People can connect through the shared experience of simply looking up."
Babak Tafreshi was an early pioneer in astrophotography as he began merging art and science to illuminate the night sky through the camera lens. As Tafreshi states, "I believe there are four elements to a successful image: art, technique, moment, and story."
His ongoing project The World at Night grounds celestial beauty alongside Earth's landmarks, reconnecting viewers to the natural world while uniting cultures through a shared wonder for the sky above.
From Above & Below
Inspired by Earthrise — the iconic 1968 photograph of Earth from space by astronaut William Anders — Tafreshi developed a lifelong passion for space journalism. That passion culminated in an unprecedented collaboration with NASA astronaut Don Pettit. During Pettit's seven-month mission aboard the ISS in 2024–2025, the pair photographed the same locations from two perspectives — one from Earth's surface, the other 250 miles above it.
Madagascar is the final work in the From Above & Below series, completed just before Pettit's return to Earth. To achieve the image, Pettit required a full moon to illuminate the nighttime landscape, while Tafreshi traveled to an extremely remote location to capture the Milky Way in an unpolluted sky. The resulting diptych is a testament to research, patience, and serendipity.
