Aryana is a recent graduate of The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Aryana is a visual creator and photojournalist based out of Southern California, Chicago, and New York. As a Global Migration Fellow for The GroundTruth Project, her documentary photography work recently appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

In California, her documentary work explores the resettlement experience on both sides of the border for various refugee and deportee communities. In Illinois, Aryana recently documented the experience of motherhood and losing a child to addiction during the pandemic as a Pulitzer Center grant recipient.

She currently resides in Los Angeles where she is working with woman-led and owned, Honeypot Productions on a documentary about seeking asylum. In addition to non-fiction storytelling, Aryana works on creative direction and research for a fashion house. She also shoots, directs and edits music videos and incorporates her work as a digital artist.

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to check out my resume below :)

  • EDUCATION:
    Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism​, ​New York, N.Y. May 2020

Master of Science, with a focus on connecting local stories to global issues through visual storytelling. Coursework in multimedia production, including photo, documentary video and website production. Highlights:

  • ●  Extensive Covid-19 coverage in print and video, including a story on home health care workers forced to work without PPE: an interview with an undocumented worker who fears for her own and her dialysis patient’s life, print story on COVID-19 in Iran; Medium curators recommended in the World Section.

    ●  Audio story on maquiladora worker in Mexico, unaware of COVID-19. Reported story in Spanish.

    ●  A photo story on a Brooklyn tenant group fighting facial recognition surveillance in affordable housing.

    ●  Master’s Project: created a website with interactive timeline, photo essay and multimedia elements

    documenting the changes to Friendship Park, a binational park in San Diego and Tijuana, and related border policy. Analyzed 50 years of government data to measure the impact of border policy. Audio story about a park activist and how the park helped him accept his second deportation and life in Mexico.

    Hofstra University,​ Hempstead, N.Y. May 2019
    Bachelor of Arts in Rhetorical Studies with minor in Radio, Television and Film

    ●  Studies focused on television and audio production, and film theory

    ●  Rhetorical studies coursework in drama therapy, spoken word and intercultural communication

  • EXPERIENCE:

    Migration Fellow, GroundTruth Project Present

    ●  Photo story on the impact of remote learning on refugee students. Initially worked remotely and gained access via extensive virtual reporting. Spent 2 months photographing in family homes.

    ●  Enterprise print story examining how 11 different ethnic community leaders came together to disrupt the county system for refugee representation and resources. Experienced in solutions

    journalism reporting.

    Post-Graduate Reporting Fellow, The Pulitzer Center Feb. 2021

    Photo story with possible video component covering the impact of a pandemic on communities struggling with opioid addiction. Told through the lens of mothers who lost children to overdoses during COVID-19.

    The New York State Assembly 28th District, Intern, Forest Hills, N.Y. Jan. - June 2019

    Researched and wrote briefing memos on pending legislation. Helped constituents navigate issues relating to foster care, homelessness and food subsidies. Assisted constituents by phone with casework on issues such as financial literacy programs for people with disabilities. Attended and briefed press conferences.

    2016 Presidential Debate, Production Assistant​,​ Hempstead, N.Y. Sep. 2016
    Assisted local and national news network production efforts before and during the third Presidential Debate hosted at Hofstra University. Selected and briefed students for interviews. Assisted in stage managing.

  • SKILLS AND INTERESTS:

    ●  Community-based and solutions journalism

    ●  Create and code multimedia timelines via TimelineJS

    ●  Scrape data from CBP and U.S. government websites

    ●  Video: C200, C100, XF400, Premiere Pro, Avid, Final Cut Pro

    ●  Photo: Fuji X-T2, X-T3 Canon XT3, Lightroom, Photoshop

    ●  Audio: Audition, Pro Tools, Hindenburg

    ●  Conversational Spanish

    ●  Music video production: videography, creative directing, editing

    ●  Photography snapchat: 3K following

  • REFERENCES:

Daniel Alarcón, Professor of Journalism, Columbia University​ dga5@columbia.edu ​(212) 854-8774

Joanne Faryon, Professor of Journalism, Columbia University ​jf3208@columbia.edu​ (858) 349-8771

Brittany Greeson, Freelance Photojournalist / The GroundTruthProject brittgreeson@gmail.com 1(270) 925-7209‬

Wilson Lievano, Managing Editor, The GroundTruth Project ​wlievano@thegroundtruthproject.org​ (781) 454-8943