Q&A With Award-Winning Photographer Parham Didehvar

The moment this conversation is going on between us, the world is revolving. For me, photography is like documenting one glimpse of this inevitable stream. I am reflecting on the world I am witnessing and getting recorded in a moment. Like describing a landscape with personalized words in the style of poetry, or linking what is going on outside of us to all of our beliefs, possessions, acquisitions, and individual insights, through our eyes, lenses, and cameras. Photography comes to me as writing poetry with the camera. It is my narration of the dullness of daily life for myself, in my expression. Photography is not only a profession for me, but it is proving me to myself. It is a kind of personal revelation that after the process of selection, development, publication, and presentation, eventually is getting shared with the audience, so some new hidden angles may emerge from it.

2. What is your favorite subject to photograph?

Anything that flicks me, awakens a feeling or roars an impression. A person can be the hero of my personal story in an instant, without even knowing it; as a manifestation of mortality and immortality. The image is created in the insight and conscience of the photographer(artist), even before the expressive subject is found. Therefore, anything that objectifies the connection of this mental image can be considered an attractive subject for the photographer.

3. What makes the good picture stand out from the average?

It all about the process of creation. As long as an image is gone through the artist's view and insight, whether it is a conscious or an unconscious reflection of the creator's inner self, is thought-provoking like a mirror that reflects the work in the artist and the artist in the work.

4. Whose work has influenced you most?  

Undoubtedly, the influence of many artists and masterpieces accompanies a person during his artistic life, and I am no exception. In my opinion, many photographers and poets, painters, musicians, and many other artists have left their mark on my artistic endeavor. It would be somehow amiss if I don't mention all their names, but I must say perhaps Abbas Kiarostami was the most influential for me. An artist who recited poetry with a camera and took pictures with poetry. I have always praised Kiarostami, not only for the aesthetics of his works but also for the personal worldview concealed in them.

5. What type of cameras do you shoot with?

I use many tools; from the Canon EOS 5D Mark III to the mobile phone camera or even a pen, to note what is before my eyes. Sometimes an image can be captured even without instruments.

6. What kind of tools do you use for post-processing?

Sometimes software like Photoshop can help to change or recreate an image. Because of my graphics background, sometimes I tend to use common software to create my mental image by combining several photos or distorting the citation of an image at will. I believe that the process of visualizing and objectifying the sentimental celebration, whether objectively documenting or creating an unreal image, (using techniques such as photo manipulation) does not interfere with the creative originality of a work of art.

7. What is the most rewarding part of being a photographer for you?

I believe that some parts of every artistic creation are formed in the artist's subconscious, which may be hidden from him/herself when bringing a piece into existence. This hidden half, getting naked in the eyes of the audience and the critics, or its consonant with new concepts and interpretations, may be as attractive to the artist as the conscious manifestation of the creation of a work of art. So for me, the inner search and decision to capture an image, regarding all conscious presuppositions, is as fascinating as the discovery of the maturity, implicit in the concept of a piece, which may have been hidden even from the artist's immediate vision at first. Perhaps this is why a photograph, a painting, or a verse of poetry reveals new concepts over time. As if the work is slowly maturing over time, swaddled in many complex layers, taking on a life of its own. This reality is the most exquisite part of my work, as a person who seeks himself and the world in creating an image. An innovation that is initially portrayed in the frame of our mind, and after expression, leads to an independent discourse and existence.