StoryTime: With Pari Aryafar

Hope all of you are well- 2021 Here we come!

Today I wanted to write about another photographer who I had the privilege of meeting in person just a few weeks ago. I wanted to do this for a few reasons: It can be easy (and unintentional) for the photographer to forget to document their own life journey. I also want to encourage photographers to be able to look back at their life 50 years from now and say, “Man, I remember Justin writing and photographing me during this part of my life.” 

Honestly, I also just love listening to how people started their pursuit of photography and what motivates them to be great at what they do!

After I finished high school in the early 2000’s, I spent most of my college years and early twenties living in the Inland Empire. So, when I found out that Pari Aryafar was from Riverside (15 minutes away from my old stomping grounds) and was going to be visiting her hometown for a few months, I made it a little mission for me to meet her in person! 

Pari (+1 cat named Butters the Great) is on her way to Amsterdam, to further pursue her career as a fighter photojournalist. She is arguably one of the elite professional photographers in Muay Thai and already making her mark in various Martial Arts. Earlier this year, she was living in New York City for the last 6 years, where she received her Masters in Writing from The New School, located in Greenwich Village. NYC is where she discovered Renzo Gracie Academy, training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. With The New School and Renzo Gracie Academy on her shoulders, she was able to understand Martial Arts from many different point of views. This allowed her to dominate her field equally as a writer and a photographer.

Me: “What do you tend to enjoy more in photojournalism: The writing or the photography? Or does it vary on what you’re documenting?”

Pari: “I guess it’s hard to really answer that. I like to think that I can put the two together in a way that makes you understand the whole story. As far as shooting, I like to think I have an idea of what I’m looking for, but writing is harder because I have to write it all out to understand what it is I’m trying to say.”

I have only known Pari since March/ April of this year. She and I were both mentees for Jeff Dojillo’s photography mentorship program. Also, a special thank you to Jeff, Pari, Wendy, and Jeremy for making me feel like a TRUE artist! Through this mentorship, we as a group studied and discussed photography on all levels. From watching documentaries to reading articles to critiquing specific photos, this course made us mentees all naturally step our game up to become even better artists. With being such a close unit, we were able to appreciate each mentee’s own unique style of work as a photographer. So when it was time to meet Pari for the first time for this story, I already felt like we’ve been friends for years!

Two weeks prior to meeting her in Riverside, I asked if I could join and observe her during one of her photoshoots. Ironically, she needed a lighting assistant for an upcoming client and asked if I could help her. I excitingly agreed to assist her but unfortunately, the appointment got cancelled. As I was brainstorming ideas of what we can photograph if we were to meet, one thing I did know was that I was excited for her as she was about to embark on an exciting life chapter and living on the other side of the world. 

I don’t know how to explain this any other way, but when you move far away from your hometown, there’s just something about being back to visit that’s relaxing and re-energizing. In many ways, it feels like you had never left home, both the good and the bad. So, I thought, “Hey, I should interview her while she’s in her hometown.” And that’s why I wanted to make sure we met in Riverside. We met at Flabob Airport, just a few minutes away from her home and former high school. I stopped her in her tracks that day for 45 minutes, as she was on her way to East LA to photograph David Huerta from Los Angeles Muay Thai Gym. 

My first impressions of Pari was that she had a contagious funny and smiling personality- For those of you who have met her, you know what I mean. It was easy making conversation with her as I was snapping away with my camera, walking around the airport. 

“When was the last time that you’ve been to this airport?” I asked her. “I haven’t been back here since my teenage years. But when I was a kid, I still remember my dad flying his small private plane to this airport many times.”

This was my first time at Flabob Airport- Which was established in 1925 and combining the names of Flavio Madariaga and Bob Bogan. Quick shoutout to the nice lady that I spoke to at the airport cafe that day- I’ll definitely be back for some breakfast! Anyways, I wasn’t sure what areas were accessible or private property. Pari and I just walked further down until we reached an opening past the wired fence to get a closer look at the airplane parking lot. 

Although the plan was to just photograph Pari, I still asked her to bring her camera to be used as a prop. However, she still flipped the script on me and told me to stand in front of one of the planes to snap a few of photos of me with her own camera. I thought it was funny and unexpected but just went along with it- So thank you for that!

Next to the planes was a secluded bench and chair, where I told her to take a seat and relax while I adjusted my camera settings. “This is how I sit,” as she smiles and jokingly slouches with one foot on the bench. I took a seat as well for a few minutes, talking about photography and life in general. In our conversation, I was able to dive in to her life story and know a little more about her....

Me: “Before Amsterdam did you already know that it was time to leave NYC, or do you think you’d still be there today? Did you have any intentions of moving back to Cali or any other states, if not internationally?”

Pari: “I didn’t think it was time to leave until Covid hit and I realized I had accomplished everything I wanted to do, or was on track to accomplishing everything I wanted. I was going to have the opportunity to photograph the Olympics, travel to France, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi, and was at a point with work where I was constantly booked and traveling. This was a huge change from years prior, where everything was coming out of my own pocket and I was sleeping on people’s floors at hotels to be able to attend shows.

I wanted to move to Amsterdam to continue the work I had started as a fight photojournalist, and had no “Plan B”. It’s Plan A all the way and continually making adjustments until I accomplish that.

I came home to California to have the opportunity to say goodbye to my family and friends, and to try to get as much work as possible before I left the states. I made sure to do the same with NYC & the East Coast. I’m lucky to have had so much support & have made so many great friends around the world.”

Shortly after, I bring out a tall can of Bud Light beer and tell her what it’s for...

The night before, she had posted a picture on Instagram of an LA Dodgers Jersey, saying “Never forget where you came from.” And with Bud Light being Dodger Blue, as well as being an American beer, I thought it would be a nice little touch to her hometown roots. She agreed to opening it, as long as I agreed to dispose of the almost full can, since she had to drive and photograph afterwards. On our way back to our cars, I asked to take a few photos of her and a quick selfie.

Pari Cherry, 

Thank you so much for your time and best of luck to you and your future endeavors!