Today we’d like to introduce you to Iman Khan.
Iman, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a Pakistani-American, though born and raised here in Chicago. I am 23 years old and graduated this past May from UIC with a Health Information Management major. I’ve been doing photography for about four-five years now and shot my first wedding when I was 18 years old, right out of high school. The client liked the work, and from there I was referred to other people for their weddings through word of mouth, and by default, my Instagram became my portfolio of work. Things began to exponentially grow in the last two years, this past January I had put together the first Muslim-Creative based Photowalk in Chicago with a turnout of 50+ people. At the second walk, I had planned for late January, four photographers had flown in from out-of-state, based off of what they had seen from social media and also wanting to formally meet each other in person for the first time. At the final meet held in Chicago this past April, nine photographers and flown in and driven from different parts of the nation to attend. It was truly a humbling moment to be a part of!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has not been smooth. As a female and as a Pakistani Muslim, it is quite difficult to pursue anything in the arts without being mistreated based off of my gender, my religion, or my ethnic background. I’ve gotten many offensive comments in my life, some being when people tell me that I’m “pretty good for a girl.” A backhanded compliment, I must say.
Because I’m young, older clients tend to bargain with me and demand rates that I cannot uphold. When I am firm with my rates, often times they’ll take it offensively. Other times, people in my community will demand a certain rate, and when I decline, they usually respond with. “So and so said, they’ll do it for us for cheaper. We don’t need you.” In the beginning, it used to hurt me when people said that, but now, I hold value in my art and know that good tidings will come with patience.
IKhan Photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is something that just sort of… sprouted into existence. I never wanted to start a business, it just sort of happened one day organically. When I had been referred to as a wedding photographer from my first gig, I hadn’t assumed that I would be getting inquiries every day from that point forward. I had done it more as a favor, than for the money. I remember telling my first ever client that I couldn’t shoot her wedding. “Why?” She asked. “Are you booked?”
“No, I just don’t want to ruin your wedding. I just take pictures of flowers. And of my friends. I really can’t do this.”
She insisted that I at least try, and that she trusted I’ll do my best. That was the start of my wedding photography career.
That being said, I call myself a wedding photographer, but I also do brand work and portraiture. I personally love to do fashion photography, especially ethnic clothing ranging from Pakistani/Indian brands to Palestinian. I’m usually known more for wedding photography and brand work than anything else!
I’m proud of my company mainly because it’s something that I juggle along with my Health Information Management degree. It’s not my main job, nor do I plan to make it my main job. It is what I like to call a “glorified hobby.” I’m proud that through my identity of being a Muslim Pakistani-American female photographer, I’m able to unite communities of people, and encourage creativity in our specific community, and smaller communities worldwide.
I think what sets me apart from other companies is that for me, it’s not about the money. If it was, I would have made it my primary job, and marketed myself in order to get business. When I get clients, I look at them as if I were in their shoes. They need a photographer to cover their wedding? I’ll cover the details as if it were my own. I also make sure to never stress out my clients, and treat them as my friends. They’re already stressed out as it is. Don’t ruin their day.
Overall, I’m grateful for the experiences I have as a photographer and it really solidifies my drive as a creative and as a human being in general.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I think a proud moment for me is not really a moment, but more like a reflection of a certain memory I have. At the last photo walk, I held in Chicago in late April, I was stressed. I was just wrapping up my internship with UIC Hospital, finals were around the corner, and I was so overwhelmed with the deadlines. I was only holding the meet because it was the only weekend that it would work with the other photographers that wanted to fly in. I got the itineraries, I made sure they were safely picked up from the airports and had places to stay. I flew in a fellow photographer friend from Canada by calling her parents and convincing her mom that her lodging and airfare would be taken care of, and that she would be attached to my side at all times. She was someone that I really wanted to attend, but she was only 19, so her parents had forcefully declined the invite up until I had spoken to her mother on the phone.
The day of the meet, it poured.
We were all drenched. We were tired, our voices were hoarse, it was cold. Regardless of all of this, I remember standing outside of the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue and seeing the huge group of people chatting, laughing, screaming and trying to hide from the rain. They were taking photos and having a great time, the 9 photographers that had flown in were enjoying themselves and everyone just seemed to mesh together like a perfect community/family. I just remember seeing all of this from the outside, and really being proud of having the opportunity to encourage people to create, and successfully introducing the out of state photographers to our little Chicago community of Muslim creatives.
Contact Info:
- Website: instagram.com/ikhan_photography
- Phone: 6306739049
- Email: imankhan81@yahoo.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ikhan_photography
Image Credit:
Iman Khan, Naoufal Bahloul, Faseeh Khan
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
