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CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF PARISH KOHANIM'S IMAGES

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All Images © Parish Kohanim

Jhesica

Parish Kohanim came to America as a 17-year-old with only $300 in his pocket. Today he is a highly sought-after, successful commercial and fine art photographer who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s been the recipient of many awards in advertising and is one of Canon’s Explorers of Light. This imaginative individual embraces change and creativity. Unafraid to experiment, he seeks out the beauty in our world, which comes alive in his original imagery.

Kohanim’s photography has long been compared to fine art and classic paintings. “I was originally interested in science and was going to be a geologist, believe it or not,” he remarks. “But the more I took geology courses in school, the more I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. So I started taking art classes; the last elective I took in college in California was photography, and I fell in love with it.”


On a Mission
He recalls always having a dream of coming to the United States when he was growing up in Persia. “From as far back as I can remember, I always loved the American flag. I listened to classic music as well as a lot of American rock ‘n roll, and I read a lot of American novels. My mother used to play Frankie Lane for me.” He came to the U.S.A. as a 17-year-old immigrant who barely spoke English. An American pen pal met him at Kennedy Airport. “I called her when I landed to say I was here,” Kohanim says. “She spoke a few sentences in English that I couldn’t understand. But she found me anyway, and put me up in a hotel.” He says that when he landed in New York and went to California, “it was just like home.”

Kohanim attended San Francisco State University and majored in Cinematography. “When I lived in San Francisco, I had a two-bedroom apartment and I turned one bedroom into a studio,” he says. “I made a softbox and taught myself lighting and design. I would bring models in for testing, using this one strobe light that I had. Looking back, God has given us one light, and some of the most beautiful things in nature have been illuminated with it.” He also taught himself how to shoot with 4x5 and 8x10 cameras. Later, he went to New York and worked for a few photographers as a free-lance assistant.  

Twins

Invaluable Lessons
When he began his career, says Kohanim, he was most interested in photographing people, fashion and beauty. But most of the jobs that initially came his way were shooting still life, products and food. “And now when I look back, I realize what an invaluable lesson that still-life photography taught me—I learned a lot about lighting, which I can really apply to photographing people, whether it’s fashion, beauty or portraits,” he comments. “During your career, despite what the school teaches—we’re all idealists—you do some jobs because it just pays the bills.” His philosophy has always been to approach these assignments with a good attitude and to do it to the best of his ability. Some of his early assignments brought him to Atlanta, Georgia, where he currently makes his home. “I first came here in mid-April, when everything was in bloom and the whole city was like a beautiful botanical garden. The nature just really drew me to Atlanta.”


Follow Your Heart
When he gives presentations for Canon U.S.A., he tells his audience that one of the fundamental things they need to remember is to “create your own signature—don’t follow trends.” He says that especially in advertising, there are a lot of trends that come and go. “You really need to rely on your gut; your inner feelings,” he states. “Create something that is unique to you.” He compares the creative process to another of his favorite activities, cooking. “The art of photography and the art of cooking is very similar. You start with nothing, and follow a progression of steps to create something tasty in food and something visually great as a photographer.” Kohanim doesn’t follow recipes, but prefers to follow instinct instead. “We have a proclivity to think too much and analyze situations. Sometimes you just have to turn that off and go with your gut feelings. That’s when the real creative process comes through.”

Although it’s tough to do these days because he’s so busy, Kohanim enjoys his self-assigned projects. “There’s a drive within me to explore new things,” he says. “The cellular structure in our brain changes, and we look at things differently as time goes on. There are some photos that I’ve pulled from my archives and asked myself, ‘how would I see it now?’ My perception is different today, as well as my tools.”

Poppies

In terms of what’s inspired his work, he says, “I think our childhood plays a great importance in our evolution. When I was a kid, my mother always had flowers on the table and we had a big garden. We always spent a lot of time with nature. My father always taught us to appreciate the simple things; we didn’t even have a T.V.” He has translated much of this philosophy to the way he shoots his fine-art images, and points out that a lot of his focus is on flowers. “What could be more beautiful than what nature has already created?” Furthermore, he says he can’t draw or paint, so the camera is a very good tool for him.


New Tools
Kohanim says that he was a film purist for years. About eight years ago, he shot some digital photos and didn’t like the noise or image quality. “Then Canon launched the EOS 30D,” he says, “and I thought, ‘this is amazing.’” Today, he’s a Canon digital shooter and an Explorer of Light, besides being on the Apple Aperture advisory board. “With the new technology, I can take an image where I want it to be. I can change the lighting without waiting for a Polaroid to develop or for film to come back,” he says. “The quality of digital imaging has gotten so much better and has surpassed film. If you have a great tool, it just makes your job so much easier.” He’s also thrilled about his digital printing, and hasn’t been in a traditional darkroom in three years.

Although Kohanim utilizes Adobe Photoshop, he says, “I try to preserve photographic integrity. I spend the time to do things right, and I don’t say ‘well, I’ll just fix it in Photoshop later.’ I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m more of a traditionalist.” During the time when he shot film with large-format cameras, photography had to be done correctly through the lens, rather than in post-production. Time was also a critical factor, he recalls, because many advertising assignments were rush jobs and clients didn’t always have the budget for retouching images. “I use Photoshop as a tool, but I don’t rely on it too much and I don’t use any default filters. When you use a tool, you need to customize it and it should be unique to you,” he declares.

Moye's Portrait

Capturing a Moment
His commercial clients include many Fortune 500 companies: Coca Cola, IBM, AT&T, Sony, Polaroid, Fossil, Kodak, and DeBeers diamonds, to name just a few. “Others are fashion and beauty clientele,” he says, “and I sell a lot of my fine-art prints.” Kohanim says that he loves doing commercial photography because of the challenge that these assignments create. “There are a lot of components that have to come together for a successful photograph to take place,” he says, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right assistants, stylists and crew. “They should take their jobs seriously and share the same values as you do.” On the other hand, he says that his fine-art work is more personal. “It allows me to create something that I see in my mind. It’s always exciting to learn something new.” For Kohanim, photography is his “high.”

Donald Trump is building two luxury towers in Atlanta, and one of Kohanim’s latest assignments was to photograph Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, for the cover of an Atlanta-based magazine. “They were very nice people; very gracious,” Kohanim says. “But they don’t have a lot of time, and you have to respect that,” he adds. “Going back to my imagery,” he says, “I love all the simple things in life and I keep my techniques and subjects very simple. When you tap into people’s souls and energy, it’s the most wonderful experience. It’s like taking a moment out of their life and extracting their real personality. The task is to make them comfortable, because we become a different person when the camera is pointed at us.”

Kohanim has a refreshing attitude about our world and says he loves talking to people from all walks of life—“everybody has a story to tell.”

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Nikki

Parish Kohanim and Eddie Tapp are launching a very unique workshop series called, “The Creative Synergy Workshop.” Dates are June 18–June 22,  and September 10–14, 2007. These workshops are not only inspirational and motivational, they will be informative and practical—a hands-on experience with two of the industry’s leading photographers.

Parish will demonstrate his knowledge and experience by creating several actual photo shoots, covering everything from lighting design to the art of revealing the true spirit of his subjects. Eddie will discuss file and color management, and will share some of his expertise in special effects and digital techniques. Ian Summer brings his special skills and ability to motivate, inspire and encourage participants to focus on creativity.

For more information, and to register for these workshops, visit http://www.creativesynergyworkshop.com.





To see more of Parish Kohanim’s work, go to http://www.parishkohanim.com.

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CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF PARISH KOHANIM'S IMAGES

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