BEHIND THE CAMERA

I’m Azar.
I’ve always liked looking closer.

I’m a self-taught photographer and product manager based in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. I grew up in Delhi, spent four years in Costa Rica, and lived in Washington before moving to Canada. Photography has stayed with me through those moves, giving me a way to explore and remember the places I’ve called home.

What keeps me interested is how much there is to notice when I slow down. Sometimes it’s a landscape, sometimes a bird, and sometimes a familiar city in different light. Photography gives me a reason to get outside, pay attention, and spend more time with a place.

My work includes landscapes, cityscapes, wildlife, aerial photography and the night sky. I also photograph the people close to me. Whether I’m traveling or exploring nearby, I want my photographs to carry something of what it felt like to be there.

This website is where I share the work I return to, along with new photographs as I continue exploring.

Curious about my camera gear, how I edit, or how I plan a photograph? I've put a few answers on my photography FAQ.

ONE VIEW, EVERY CAMERA

The camera changed.
The interest never did.

Scroll through the cameras I’ve used, from a Kodak at school to the Sony I carry today. It’s the same photograph every time, recreated the way each camera might have seen it.

Riverside cabin beneath autumn trees · Leavenworth, Washington

01 · School
Kodak film camera
It started in school with a Kodak film camera and candid photographs of friends and family.
02 · College
Nokia phone cameras
In college, I kept taking pictures with Nokia phone cameras.
03 · Next
Point-and-shoots
From there the equipment kept changing, starting with point-and-shoot cameras, but the interest never really left.
04 · Then
DSLRs
Then came DSLRs. I’m self-taught, and I’ve been making photographs for more than twenty years. I’m still learning.
05 · Today
Sony A7R IV and A7C II
Today, I photograph with Sony A7R IV and A7C II cameras.
I use careful timing, in-camera techniques and post-processing to bring out the colour, depth and atmosphere I saw when I pressed the shutter.

Steps one to four are simulations made from the same photograph, not originals from those cameras.

IN THE NEWS

Featured by KOMO Weather

Three of my Seattle photographs have been featured by KOMO Weather. Change the channel to see each one as it aired, then switch to Original to see the full photograph.