Tafreshi is recognized for his fascination with the night sky and in his works he merges art and science and crosses the boundary between nature and culture.
Another Iranian, Hoda Afshar, was also among the 2022 winners.
She works across still and moving images, and her work explores gender, marginality, and displacement.
The Royal Photography Society awards are the longest running in the world, saying they seek to honor the power of photography to uplift people and culture.