Kiana grew up in Tehran and moved to Toronto while she was still a teenager. Faced with the challenges of adapting to a new environment, she took up photography as a way of bridging the gap in language and culture. In 2014, a short month before NATO forces pulled out, Kiana moved to Kabul and stayed on for 8 years. Her work often explores complex topics such as migration, adolescence, identity and sexuality in conflict-ridden societies.
In 2014, Kiana was recognized as one of the emerging photographers by PDN 30 Under 30. In 2016, she received the Chris Hondros Fund Award as an emerging photographer. A grant from the European Journalism Center in 2017 supported her series on gender equality in Afghanistan. She was also awarded the Stern Grant in 2018 to continue her exploration of mental health among Afghan women. In 2020, Kiana earned the Tim Hetherington Visionary Award for her proposed project exposing the dangers of dilettante 'hit & run' journalism. Later that year, she became the 6th recipient of the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting. In 2021, Kiana was honored with the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal for her photographic series 'Where Prison is Kind of a Freedom,' documenting the lives of Afghan women in Herat Prison. In 2022, as part of The New York Times reporting team, she contributed to the work that won The Hal Boyle Award for 'The Collapse of Afghanistan' and was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting. The same year, she was named the winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award for her portfolio, 'Promises Written On the Ice, Left In the Sun,' providing an intimate look into the lives of Afghans from all walks of life.