Today we’d like to introduce you to Tav Jinivizian.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Photography started as a passion in the darkroom in my undergrad days. When digital photography became accessible, I started photography as a hobby. With encouragement from friends and family, and arrogance on mypart, I taught myself the art further beyond my hobby skills.
I started working for free, learned some lessons, started charging, learned more lessons, kept shooting, succeeding, failing, learning, shooting, succeeding, failing, learning, shooting, and so on.
While doing this, I picked up a few ongoing freelance clients – the local media in NJ which taught me to hone my photojournalist skills, and a school portrait studio that taught me classic posing and lighting techniques.
These two freelance clients helped to shape me. I adapted and improved my photojournalist skill and learned the proper rules of posing and lighting – so that I could break them properly with my own clients. With the referral train rolling, I built up my business to a very happy point – busy enough to haul in money, but not so busy where I’m shooting every weekend. This year, my wife received the opportunity to work for a biotech company in Cambridge, MA. Because I love her and believe that she too should follow her dreams, we moved to Waltham, MA from New Jersey.
Please tell us about your art.
I photograph events. Weddings and Mitzvahs, and the occasional family portrait. Every event I photograph, I try to capture the feelings present: the excitement and the love. I find it endlessly fascinating that my clients will see these photos and realize how much of the day they actually missed. Sure, they were there and present, and so was I – but I was everywhere. And nowhere.
Further, during the reception portion of these events, the present lighting is usually terrific for a party, but terrible for photography. I set up and create my own lighting and shoot specifically to mimic the “party feel” that’s present, but that’s difficult to capture. For example, you can light the room up like Christmas and see everything clearly, but then you lose all drama and emotion. On the other hand, if you try using natural light, your image quality will suffer tremendously and people will look just plain terrible.
With my sculpted lighting, I get all the emotion and drama while creating a flattering image that retains high quality. Boom. My goal is to have my clients return to their photos over and over again to relive their day – whether it’s Johnny and Janey’s wedding or Ben’s Bar Mitzvah. I want people to feel joy when they see my photos. Every time.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
Oh yes. Shoot every day. Shoot, learn, shoot, fail, shoot, learn, shoot, fail, learn. If you’d like to make a career out of it – read business books. Many artists fail because they tank the business side of things. Learn to market, sell, and move forward.
If you’re still in school and deciding on a career choice, go to college for a business degree. The art is always within you, your ability is always within you, and there’s only so much an art school will teach you. Learning about business, on the other hand, will help you leap and bound.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can see my work at www.tavimages.com and on Instagram @tavimages for event work and www.tavphotodesign.com and on Instagram @tavphotodesign for commercial work.
The best way to support me is to hire me. The best way to hire me is to visit my website – and basically have a need for photography.
Contact Info:
- Address: Moody St. Waltham, MA 02453
- Website: www.tavimages.com
- Phone: 201-788-8243
- Email: tav@tavimages.com
- Instagram: @tavimages
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tavimagesphoto/
Image Credit:
All images copyright Tav Jinivizian, Tav Images Photography, LLC.
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