Negeen Sobhani Photography

nine

negeen — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:28:05 +0000

Happy 9th birthday to my love, my light and my angel.
“Oh my, my how you’ve grown / Well it’s been, it’s been…a little while” - U2 In a Little While
My little love on May 13, 2005, ’07, ’09, ’11 and ’13 in the dress I wore the night I learned I was expecting. She gets photographed in it every year on her birthday, and we watch in awe and adoration at how she grows to such loveliness.

International convention

negeen — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:27:47 +0000

This week as a thousand delegates from more than 150 countries went to Haifa for the 11th annual International Baha’i Convention, I can’t help but look back on the convention that I experienced in 2008 and recall the impression that historic gathering made on me.
Seeing the diversity of the entire human race in one room is strangely humbling and empowering at the same time. You feel small because you realize your “world” is actually a tiny fleck in the vastness of the human experience happening to billions of people in every corner of the earth every minute of every day. Still, you are filled with hope when see the unity and connection they share in perhaps the most diverse gathering of people in the world – a diversity not only in nations, but also in social, economic and professional backgrounds. An Italian industrialist, a presidential adviser from South Africa, a student from South America, a Bulgarian musician, a Ph.D. working with international research, a small business owner from Cameroon, and hundreds of others gathered to cast their ballots and elect the international governing body of the Baha’i Faith.
The non-partisan, non-campaigning election process itself was itself remarkable. Over one thousand delegates representing 153 countries crossing a stage and casting their ballots with such dignity and grace. It was one of those occasions where the images were so impressed in my mind that I almost didn’t need my camera. Well… almost.

skewed vision

negeen — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 21:28:40 +0000

I often tell my clients that they cannot see themselves the way I see them through my lens. It requires them to trust that I recognize a beauty that is inherently there, but sometimes concealed from their own eyes. Nothing illustrates that fact better than this portrait project:

The results are fascinating.
So how beautiful are we? So much more than we think we are.

nadia | contemporary portrait

negeen — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:02:23 +0000

Even with the opening of our studio doors months away, our contemporary glamour photography has taken a life of its own. It will not wait for sheet rock to go up or walls to be painted. So we pack up our portable-ized studio set and transform spaces into our beauty portrait studio. Simply with enough natural light, a little pampering by our make-up artist extraordinaire, and a willing spirit, that inherent beauty that every woman has finds its way out. Makeup, hair, lighting and posing only go so far. When a woman understands that I may see her completely differently than how she’s always seen herself, that trust creates a connection that brings images to life. For some, it may be the first time they have ever seen themselves without their own filters. For Nadia, that connection brought out two qualities she is so well known for: her sincerity and a luminance from her smile that emanates for miles.

Tina | contemporary portrait

negeen — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:53:18 +0000

A newlywed, a student, a new Okie and above all an amazing friend. Tina mia.

nadia

negeen — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:23:27 +0000

Make-up and hair: Brandi Haymore
Photography: Negeen Sobhani
The rest: Incredible genes and a beautiful soul.

Beauty

negeen — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 02:02:55 +0000

It may very well be because I am a mother of a little-girl-turning-tween that the concept of beauty has been on my mind lately. Artists are naturally attracted to beauty, even though their interpretation of it is ever-evolving. In high school, I went my entire junior year without wearing a stitch of make-up. In fine art school my value of beauty was confronted when my delicately crafted, hand-colored Polaroid transfer of an orange lily was shrugged off by my professor as “just a flower” – words that to this day challenge me to interpret and not simply photocopy my world with photography. Eventually trained as a purist photojournalist, I looked for unaltered beauty to unveil itself in the stories I covered. At weddings, the excitement and joy of the momentous occasion paint such beauty on people’s faces and movements.
So what if people are removed from the events and emotions that inevitably make them gleam? My new challenge is to explore that. I would call it “beauty photography” but since I will employ techniques such as before-and-afters (what carries through between the untouched and the made-up?), simple lines, even lighting and modern posing, it actually falls into the genre of contemporary glamour. As you observe, I invite you to ask yourself, what makes an image beautiful? And I will continue to explore and capture it, despite Rumi’s claim that “the best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.” Touché.

Coming soon…

negeen — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:28:42 +0000

It’s been busy at Negeen Sobhani Photography as we’re developing new projects for 2013. Our new studio doors will open this summer and our Etsy shop grand opening is just around the corner. Here’s a preview of what you’ll find there. Happy spring everyone!

Shirin and Reed [San Francisco wedding photography]

negeen — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:48:22 +0000

It all started when he surprised her one day at her San Francisco doorstep with a box of of gourmet chocolate-covered pretzels that he delivered to her from New York and it culminated with each of their wedding guests holding their own jar of candy as a reminder of the beautiful union they’d just witnessed. Her name is Shirin which literally means “sweet.” It didn’t take long for me to see the shirin-ness about her: that adoration for delectable treats (the wedding guests matched those candy jars to the corresponding candy-themed dinner tables), her cheerful demeanor, sparkly eyes and a smile that you want to scrunch up and put in your pocket for a rainy day. This adorable bride and her groom Reed, whose heart is so tender and kind I think he stole it from a panda bear, create a love that is beyond sweet. It’s rich and deep and touches you way at the bottom of your soul. An unmistakable love that, coupled with their dedicated aspirations to serve their community, you just know will make their corner of the world a, well, sweeter place to be. Congratulations ShiReed!!

the 100th monthly portrait

negeen — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:09:47 +0000

When my daughter Aliyah turned one month old on June 13, 2004, I, like every doting parent, took a photo of her. When she turned two months old on July 13, I took another photo. On August 13, I took another; on September 13, another; and kept going, month after month, taking her portrait on the 13th of every month. For 100 months.
Before automatic reminders, there was the 11pm realization that I’d forgotten it was the 13th resulting in a half-asleep prop-up in the crib (Nov 13, 05). There was time I was in Paris to shoot a wedding and photographed Aliyah through Skype on my laptop (Feb 13, 09). Twice we were apart with no way of “seeing” each other and either Grandma or Papá took care of the portrait. With the exception of those two portraits on Oct 13, 09 (I was queuing for a concert) and Apr 13, 10 (she and Papá were visiting Italy) I’ve managed to stop on the 13th of every month and capture a glimpse into Aliyah’s development, personality and environment.
I know. As she grows, life will often bump in the way of us being together. At the very least, the 13th can be our reoccurring date to connect. And with smart phones and good aim, we’ll manage to carry on our little project wherever we may be. For now, off to #101.