Ali Matinfar

Ali Matinfar (born 1983, Tehran) is an amateur astronomer, night-sky photographer, and astronomy educator based in Iran. He began his work in astronomy in 1998 at the Zafaranieh Observatory in Tehran, where he later studied and taught various fields of amateur astronomy, and also taught at the Tehran Science and Astronomy Center. He has contributed numerous articles to Nojum Magazine, Iran’s only astronomy monthly, and has been involved in astronomy outreach through radio, television, schools, and astronomical institutions across Iran. Since 2002, Ali has organized and led educational astronomy trips and night-sky photography workshops across Iran’s deserts and naturally dark-sky regions. From 2018 to 2020, he lived in Iran’s central desert, focusing on identifying dark-sky locations, pursuing astrophotography professionally, and documenting the desert night sky. During this period, he also organized public observing nights and outreach activities for local and rural communities, helping reconnect people with the night sky. Since returning to Tehran, he has continued to lead regular workshops in night-sky photography, astrophotography, and observational astronomy, while advocating for awareness and protection of the natural night environment and dark skies of Iran’s central deserts. Over the years, he has guided hundreds of participants through these experiences. He is currently developing Hidden World, a documentary photography project exploring the unseen natural world at night. The project will be introduced soon through DarkSky International at the 2026 Under One Sky Conference.