Ako Salemi was born in 1981 in Bukan, Kurdistan, Iran. Since 2006 he has worked as a photojournalist for several important Iranian newspapers. He is working as freelance documentary photographer now. He documents several stories in social issues in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is one of the founder members of an inspirational photography group called 'Hikari Creative'. One of his pics was among the best 29 Images published in Instagram in 2014 selected by Time Magazine.
He received an honorable mentions from Instagram-Getty Images 2015 and 2016 grant. His images published worldwide in Time Lightbox, The New York Times, The New Yorker, VOX, The Guardian, MSNBC Photography, Lens Culture and Instagram Blog. His proposal about the climate change crisis in Iran won Persephone Miel Fellowship of Pulitzer Center in 2016. One of his photos was among best photos of 2016 selected by Pulitzer Center photo editors.