Peyvan Turns Talent to Tiny Objects
March 12, 2020
Equipped with her Canon Rebel T6 and wide lens, senior Kimya Peyvan is always on the lookout for the subject of her next photograph. Choosing to focus on the minuscule and often overlooked details in her surroundings, Peyvan’s style of macro photography reveals an ethereal world.
The art of macro photography is a common skill taught in photo classes. It involves blowing up small, ordinary objects to larger than life-size.
“It’s 1 of the more difficult styles to master because when you use as close up lens, it forces the photographer to pay very close attention to the settings on the camera such as the lens aperture and the shutter speed and there’s a very narrow latitude for getting it just right,” said photography teacher Collette Sweeney.
Peyvan has taken macro photographs of a variety of subjects. “I like to go back and forth with organic objects like flowers, bugs, leaves, stuff like that, but I also slip out to inorganic objects like colored pencils shavings, rings,” said Peyvan. “I just like it a lot because it takes a new perspective that we can’t see with the human eye.”
Peyvan’s love for photography has evolved unintentionally. When she signed up for Photo 1 as a freshman to fulfill her art credit, she didn’t expect to continue the elective, much less end up in AP Photography her junior year. “In the beginning, I was not an art person. I would never see myself in it, but I ended up finding a way to get myself into art and I’m happy I took that class,” said Peyvan.
“You can really tell the difference between the people who were doing it to get AP credit, but she really took it to a different level with macro. Every time I came for class after brunch, I would see her in there setting up,” said senior Taylor Floyd, a friend of Peyvan’s who also took photography.
Learning about photography has made the art world much more accessible to Peyvan. “It definitely changed how I perceived art because before, I didn’t understand the value of it. Especially because I have friends who like music or like theater or all kinds of stuff, I feel like I can just relate to them more,” said Peyvan.
“She’s a terrific gal and very organized and a hard worker,” said Sweeney. “Her macro photography is wonderful and she’s done a lot with that.”
After maxing out of all the photo classes available at Campolindo, Peyvan still tries to incorporate art into her daily life, posting her work on her Instagram @kimyapeyvanphotography. “I do it for fun and whenever we have creative school projects I use it as an excuse to use my photography skills,” said Peyvan.
Peyvan hopes that students looking to fulfill their art class requirements give photography a chance. “Don’t completely not consider a subject because you don’t have a past history with it. Go into things with an open mind and you might end up like it,” said Peyvan.
