Noisey: How did you get into photography and cameras?

Afshin Shahidi: Photography was always something that was a hobby of mine. I was taking pictures of my wife, occasionally people needed headshots, any chance that I had to kind of practice photography I took. At a young age my mother was a hobbyist so I grew up with her having a dark room in the basement and me kind of tinkering with that and watching the magic of seeing a photo appear on photographic paper when it's in the chemicals. Especially, at that time, as a kid, it seemed like magic, so that kind of drew me in. Over the years, as very creative and visual person, photography, cinematography, and filmmaking were kind of what my passions were. Growing up in Minnesota I really didn't know what to do with them, so I ended up studying physics in college, but when it came time to actually pick a career I wanted to figure out how to get into the visual arts.