Katya Abedian-Rawháni is a self-taught photographer and film director, currently in her final year of medical school. Her journey into the world of photography began at the age of 14 when she was gifted her first second-hand 35mm film camera. Since then, her love for analogue film has grown, and she has devoted herself to capturing her experience of the world through the lens.
Home: where honeysuckle grows as we sip rosewater chai in the garden, is a collection of photographs taken by Katya. This collection captures moments between Katya and her husband’s home, where warmth lives, and the home she grew up in, where her father is always found watering the garden at dusk and where her grandmother’s hands hold honeysuckle.
This series of photographs explores what home feels like through sensory moments such as fresh fragrant roses from Katyas garden, watching her husband shave, and her father buying new goldfish for Nowruz — all of which bring her peace and joy. With these images, Katya hopes to evoke similar feelings in others.
The inspiration behind Katya’s collection is the belief that it is the people in a home who make it feel like home. A home is something you create within yourself and with the ones you love, always carrying it with you. Katya hopes this collection might serve as an inspiration to others, encouraging them to capture and appreciate the things that feel meaningful to them, whatever that may be.
Influenced by her family archives, especially those of her father’s from Iran, Katya’s photographs are deeply rooted in home life. These images, depicting shared meals, food preparation, and moments with family and friends, inform much of her storytelling. She believes that home is the center of our beings, a place where we rest and gain the love and strength we need to go back into the world. Now that Katya has created her own home with her husband, the concept of home has become even more meaningful and sacred to her.
Home extends beyond physical spaces — it’s a feeling. For Katya, home is where she finds herself with her husband. She describes how a home can move with you and is a knowing and a refuge that one always carries with oneself.
Katya describes her photographic style as honest, loving, and full of warmth and sentimentality. Her work focuses on capturing gentle, everyday moments that bring her joy. The equipment she currently likes to use to capture everyday moments like the ones in her collection is her Pentax MX 35mm film camera and Kodak film stock.
When asked which photo she is most proud of, Katya explained that she treasures all of them for different reasons. The image of her husband drying his hair, captures a precious moment. She describes the full-circle feeling of visiting her childhood home, the same place where she and her husband got married. Waking up in her childhood bedroom evokes a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality.
The photograph of her grandmother holding honeysuckle flowers is one of Katya’s favorites. It transports her back to the days, while she would sit across the kitchen table, listening to her grandmother’s stories. She describes how her grandmother’s hands hold so many stories. Katya’s grandmother made carpets in Iran, which enabled her to send Katya’s father to school in their village and Katya is always deeply inspired by her.
Katya also cherishes and adores the photograph of her father in his garden, the same garden that offered her so much joy growing up. The framing is one of her favorites, and she describes how everything about this particular photograph is a perfect reflection of her father and how he makes her feel. Katya mentions that her father is always most at peace and fully content while working in his garden. She recounts that her fondest memories of her father are just like this, watching him tend to and water his garden with the utmost love and care. She loves capturing the people she loves the most in their natural or happiest moments, and this photo of her father is a perfect example of him during a natural or happy moment.
For aspiring photographers seeking to carve out their own unique style, Katya offers valuable advice. She emphasizes the importance of staying open to inspiration and allowing personal taste to change as you evolve over time. Rather than following popular trends, Katya encourages photographers to embrace what excites them most. By reflecting on their work and keeping their introspection balanced, while learning from the world around them, photographers can develop a style that is truly their own.
Photography Katya Abedian-Rawháni