I’ve been trying to work on some portraiture lately and after playing around with a 50mm 1.8 f I think I’m really enjoying it!
Also, my sissy, Mahnaz, has been helping me out with some commercial style editing since I work mostly in documentary style.
Here is my first attempt at some [commercial] Photoshop retouching, tell me what you think!
My brother is here from Iran and he’s here to stay. He was away from the States for 17 years and this is it. This is a big change, I know because I did it too. I have no idea what’s going through his mind. As today was day 1, I took him around town and we ran what felt like a million errands. He was excited and nervous about so many things. I would say he’s still a bit confused and misses Iran more that I ever did…
After a long day of running around, meeting a couple family members, and stuffing on good ol’ American cheeseburgers he went out to the patio and started up his hookah. He looked like he was deep in thought so I brought out my camera thinking he’d tell me to put it away but he didn’t care… So I took a few more.
Everyone, Bijan Benjamin Abbassi is back home.
Bijan read poetry to me. It was beautiful. I had missed old Persian literature.
On to the next poem.
Proud Iranian.
On July 25th I had the opportunity to spend some time with Morty (Morten) Gaskill, Ocracoke’s youngest commercial fisherman. He was 8 years old when he first got his commercial fishing license and he is now 17.
Morty was supposed to show me around Ocracoke island while I took shots of resting areas, traffic congestion, tourists on bikes, No Trespassing signs, and shots in that nature.
But it rained. It rained almost all day and there weren’t many people on bikes or in cars, so I asked if he could take me on his boat and show me how he fished. He was happy to be on his boat and away doing what he loved to do, plus he later told me that he was getting a head start on his next day of work. It was a win-win situation and neither one of us had to wait around for the rain to stop.
Below are a few portraits of Morty in his boat. I enjoyed his company greatly, and I hope you enjoy the photographs.
Tell me what you think!
Morty beside his Wall of Fame.
Sheepshead fish we found in an abandoned net.
The front and back of his fishing boat.
Crabs. He threw it back in the water because it wasn’t full enough.
This fish was some sort of pest. We threw him back in the water too.
Relaxing on the boat. Enjoying the quiet.
Taking in the last few minutes before it was time to go.
Meet Miss Molly!
Molly is a miniature Dachshund. She’s such a cutie, and sleeping on top of the couch is her favorite thing to do. Today I had the privilege to shoot with a Canon 5D and Molly just happened to be the first model available. We had a few minutes of fun and below are a couple of the results.
Tell me what you think? Isn’t she adorable?
I’ve recently started working for Resourceful Communities Program of The Conservation Fund as their documentary photographer. They ask me to travel with them to different counties in NC and meet their partners to photograph some of the work being done through the grants they’ve provided. I have seen many poor communities find hope through some of these projects; it’s very heart warming and I’ve been enjoying this job more than I can express in words.
The images below are from our travels to Dunn, NC to visit our partner at The Episcopal Farmworker Ministry. We first visited Father Tony, who is the executive director and responsible for most of the help that goes to the farmers. We then visited the camps that the farmers were living in, we did not visit the farm itself. All of the farmers were Mexicans and lived in horrible conditions. They would leave for the farm at sunrise and come back to the camps at sunset. About 3/4 of the children living there were not listed, but spoke 3 languages: English, Spanish, and their indigenous language. The adults only spoke Spanish, and were the hardest workers I’ve ever seen.
The images do not show much of their living conditions, I shot in the sunset after the workers piled out of the bus that brought them back to the camps. They were hungry, tired, and in need of a shower but they were all smiles the whole time we were there. There was a lot of movement and not much light, but I shot what I could.
I hope you enjoy the images, and please don’t forget feedback.
Father Jesus Antonio Rojas AKA Father Tony.
Their kitchen. Only one stove was in working condition.
The only showers in the camp. Each camp held about 200+ farmers.
The refrigerators. Some groups would lock up until they got back at sunset.
A young farmer.
An adoring father. An adorable daughter. (This is my favorite image that came out of this visit.)
Father Tony and his wife, Lucia, would bring bags and boxes of donated clothes, shoes, and toys from camp to camp. I was surprised at how little the workers were taking. Each family would take only a few pieces of clothing and the children would grab a toy or 2 then help Father Tony and Lucia load up their van with what was left. There was nothing greedy about these communities.
Boy with toys.
The bathrooms. They were just holes in the ground with no water.
Just last week I was fortunate enough to work with the professional model, Peter Carey, for some fashion and lifestyle photography. Working with a professional was a first for me and I couldn’t have asked for anyone more patient than Peter. Thank you Peter, you’re the best!
Below are just a select few of the outcome. No lighting equipment was used in the shoot, it’s all thanks to natural light. I hope you enjoy and don’t forget to leave me feedback.
Below is my final set of photography work as a student. These last few months as a college student have been so bitter-sweet, I can’t make up my mind if I’m excited or sad about graduation. I guess both.
This project is a series of self portraits exploring who I am, both as an American and as an Iranian, through photographs. It has always been a struggle for me to explain myself, who I truly am, and how I should or shouldn’t act in given situations. I feel that maybe these photographs will answer some questions. Questions people might have, or even questions I have for myself as a person who has lived with two cultures her whole life. Sometimes I feel confused, proud, and sometimes even awkward about how to simply deal with the differences of the two parts that make me.
In each image I’ve incorporated myself twice, once as the Iranian and once as the American. In some of my images I see conflict and in some I see peace and calm with my two selves. This exploration is a growing one and much more work will follow this blog post.
I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to comment. I always enjoy your feedback.
2011 started in Ghana for me this year. I was in the air New Year’s Eve, and landed in Accra New Year’s Day. I traveled with 5 other photography students, 9 IARC students, and an IARC professor from UNCG. We were to document the process of us building a school in Kyekyewere village in Kumasi for 2.5 weeks.
The trip was amazing beyond words, the experience was delightful, and I made many beautiful, smart, and caring friends.
A special thanks to Rescue Aid Foundation (RAF) for making this trip one of the best adventures of my life. Thank you Selasi, Edmund, and Zuki for all you’re doing for Africa.
Below are a few photos I took while on this trip, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
A little boy getting his hair cut. He was not happy about it.
Children at church.
Girl selling plantain chips at the beach.
A fun day at the beach.
The children of Kyekyewere.
Teaching the children to play Duck, duck, goose.
Children playing in a mound of dirt.
Children playing around bricks drying in the sun.
Workers on the site.
Young women preparing dinner (Fufu).
Girl in her back yard.
Villagers.
Dirt roads. Dirt bike.
Village boy in front of soccer field.
Village boys playing soccer.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time with my sister, Mahnaz, in Nashville, TN. I followed her and a couple other photographers she has been interning with in the past month and a half. The day these photos were shot we were both being mentored by Jarrett Gaza, an amazing photographer who mainly works with country singers and other Nashville music artists. He was so kind and patient with us, I couldn’t thank him enough.
I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do! Tell me what you think?
These are cyanotypes. It’s a fun and beautiful alternative process in photography that I’ve been taking a class in. My grandmother just recently past away and I’ve been wanting to make some nostalgic pieces in her memory, and this class has really opened some doors for ideas. The cyanotypes above are a few pieces I’ve made thus far.
I exposed my images on art paper to give it a homey feel, and I really like how they turned out. I hope you do too.
