Ahad Subzwari, Photographer & Creative Producer
💭 Thoughts on analogue media, Zion National Park, and wandering through the human psyche on TikTok.
Ahad Subzwari has been photographing live music and producing events for over 15 years. Along that path, he found himself becoming a producer for agency work as a means to better understand the collaborative creative process. He has now been working at a large agency for over 4 years, while maintaining his creative production in tandem. Photography has taken him eclipse chasing in the desert, on world tours with Solange Knowles, and on family trips where he's the designated photographer (by choice). Aside from production and photography, he's also adept at building multimedia installations using projection mapping and other types of content-based experience design.
🎯 Current focus
I’m currently (and constantly) working on creating balance between my production brain and my creative brain. With that, I’m hoping to bring to life a few personal photography projects outside the realm of music photography which is often my go-to.
Collaborative work is how I flourish, so I’m trying to create specific photo projects with all my talented friends that help us with some creative expression. Some of those great friends I'm collaborating with are Mother Nature, the great people at Lichen, and amazing artists such as Cami Arboles.
📼 Diving into analogue media
I’m definitely like 15+ years late to the fad, but I have been big into searching for random vinyl to listen to. I recently set up a new hi-fi system in my house and it’s reinvigorated music for me. I have been very blah about algorithmic playlists to the point where I found myself not even listening to music that often. Which for me is wild because that’s always been the driving force for so much of my creative work!
As a tech-nerd, diving back into analogue media in general has really been refreshing. I’ve been digitizing my dad’s old camcorder videos, buying old Bollywood soundtracks on tape, and looking for both old favorites and unknown bangers on vinyl. Throw in some film photography and I’ve really found myself distancing myself from digital media while also using nostalgia as a way to pioneer forward. An album I've had on loop is the homie Chris's Dural. I got it on tape and vinyl because I love any artist pushing analogue.
The physicality of being reacquainted with analogue media has really been refreshing. This site with lots of beautiful vintage cassette tape designs reaffirms the fact that designers were really cooking up the best work back then.
🎧 "Ladke" by REHMA & Shreea Kaul
The song "Ladke" by REHMA and Shreea Kaul has been stuck in my head. They are both South Asian Women whose music pulls from the contemporary music we all hear AND the endless well of Indian / Pakistani music we grew up on. As a fellow South Asian, seeing representation is always important - especially when the representation is more than just nostalgia-baiting and actually builds on the shared diaspora experiences we all had growing up. The hook is also so catchy.
🤞 Imagining the best possible outcomes
A friend once told me to ask the universe “what’s the best that can happen?” - I’ve tried asking that whenever I’m feeling uncertain or hopeful. We often go to the glass-half-empty side of that question, but having your brain start thinking about the best possible outcomes has really helped reorient me. Whether or not you believe in manifestation, having an optimistic outlook is undeniable in achieving what you want, especially as a serial overthinking realist. Beyond that, gratitude has gone a long way. Thanks universe!
I am most looking forward to a much needed reset trip into the deserts of Utah. I often find myself overstimulated between work and living in the city. Creating intentional moments of reconnecting with nature and going head-first into a place with more views and less cell service is always a great cleanse of the mind.
I always visit the area around Zion National Park. So far I've been there 4 times in the past 3 years. There's something about the extremely unique terrain that really helps me reset. It's so different from anything I have or will ever experience anywhere else, so it helps ground me.
🤳 Wandering through the human psyche on TikTok
TikTok’s insanely invasive algorithm really knows what to put in front of me. I like to think I worked really hard to make my feed hyper curated to what I need. A perfect balance of educational content mixed with creative inspo and topped with a mix of laughs and music. James Rehwald has the best educational content made for the tiniest of attention spans; he can convey complex historical context in a quick hitting video. Creative inspo happens more randomly, but here's a video that recently caught my eyes!
The anonymity of the platform allows for an equitable approach since most of the videos on my feed aren’t even from people I follow. It’s like wandering through the human psyche, for better or worse. I did have to set a screen time limit for it though, for that reason LOL.
🫶 “Why don’t you just do it?”
The corny answer to who I can’t live without and why may have to just be my fiancé. She’s the perfect foil to my overthinking self. I’m often in my head with 1000 ideas and little execution. Having her balance me out with a simple “why don’t you just do it?” goes a long way. I sometimes call her my Creative Director because she’s elevated almost everything about my craft and my taste over the past 8.5 years.
Follow Ahad on Instagram & Linkedin and check out his website here.
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