Today we’d like to introduce you to Zaydaan Jahangir.
Zaydaan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up I was always surrounded by photography and everywhere I went my family would love to take photos so photography being a core aspect of my childhood helped spark my interest. Around middle school, I began to take up photography just as a hobby and I only used my phone for a good amount of time which helped build a good foundation for photography itself; after a while, I found my dad’s retired Nikon D7000 and my interest only grew from there. I was really interested in photography as a whole so I never conformed to a certain type of photography at first, I had no particular likes and dislikes and I spent a lot of time trying out all the different genres of photography.
As high school started, I began to find a specialty in street photography, I took every chance I could to go to Downtown Dallas and spend hours taking photos of the city, especially at night. I also gravitated towards travel photography and enjoyed capturing the different aspects of new locations especially if it was in a different country. After years of searching for the best technique and reading countless photography books, I found out that photography relies heavily on editing. Editing was the primary way to express what I wanted to show within my photos.
Not long after, the coronavirus had reached all corners of the globe, and having the ability to practice editing all day came as a positive in such a negative time. My photography was very limited so I focused primarily on editing old photos and through that, I was able to find a style that fits me. This style has evolved and continues to evolve every day but I do still like to make multiple variations of the same photo because a photo can fit all sorts of styles. Currently, I’m pretty busy so street photography isn’t something I can do daily but I find taking photos of clouds to be a suitable replacement for the time being. For some reason, I’ve always liked cloud photography (If that’s a thing) and genuinely love how colors and patterns are distorted within clouds.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth road but not exactly a bumpy one. A big struggle for me was actually finding a certain genre and style of photography. I loved taking photos but it was hard enjoying taking portrait photos one week and then switching to macro photos the next. I had been cycling through the different genres of photography so much that I never was able to specialize and develop the skills for one particular style. This went on for a pretty long time so surely that stunted my growth. Still, I’m glad to have tried everything out because now I know what I really like and really dislike. Similarly, finding a style of photography or a certain set of tones that suited me was also a challenge. I would constantly be changing the colors I wanted to be illustrated in my photography and as a result, my photography was very dynamic and static at the same time with clusters of photos that stuck to a rigid theme and then another cluster to a different theme. Over time I was able to develop a personal style that usually favors one or two ways a photo is edited so as a solution I just share both versions of the same photo.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a photographer and specialize in street and travel photography which is primarily what I’m known for. I’m most proud of the style I’ve developed over the years and the constant evolution of it as well as a photo book that I’m working on, so when I finish that it will definitely be the thing, I am most proud of.
What do you think about happiness?
I recently got a new phone which I’m really happy about because the camera is miles better than my old phone and I love being able to take quality photos wherever I am. I’d say I’m a generally happy person so a lot of things do make me happy but that’s only possible through photography. I’m really able to be myself with photography and express that through my photos, I find that taking photos really helps me de-stress and nothing can match the happiness I get when I take a good photo.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zayj27/
