Conversations with Sona Kechiyants

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sona Kechiyants.

Hi Sona, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.

I’m an Armenian-born visual artist living and working in California.  I learned about photography and art in general from the environment in which I grew up back in Armenia. I took art classes, spent time at my parents’ art library exploring renaissance to modern art, documentary, and wildlife photography, and even started photographing my little sister with our professional Zenit camera at age seven. I still fondly remember our visits to the yearly  Museum Night Festivals in Yerevan city. Ever since, Armenian artists including Aivazovsky, Sureniants, and Parajanov became a few of my favorites. Thanks to my parents who planted a love of art and culture since early childhood.

No matter how bizarre it may sound, I am quite thankful for the experience that I had during the Covid era. Soon, after it, I found the strength and self-motivation to make a career transition, leave the legal field, and start my creative journey. Photography became oxygen for me, a cup of freedom and fresh air. It brings me happiness and joy to create memories for people to cherish for the years to come. Besides photography, I create contemporary art, including hand-painted clothing known as wearable art.  My photography as an art form is deeply connected to these and many other memories.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

There are many obstacles and challenges that I come across every day. How we approach those obstacles is what matters. I have learned that personal growth requires going out of our comfort zone, facing difficulties as they come, or even searching for those when things seem too easy. Life can become boring without creative challenges and obstacles. Being the primary caretaker of my two young children during the day was one challenge that I turned out into an advantage. It’s a work in progress yet I learned how to articulate my career along with my parenting responsibility to make it joyful for all of us.

Despite all this tremendous influence, it was the traditional mindset. Specifically, to support myself as an artist I needed to have inherited wealth. And I went to law school, took the traditional career path of becoming a lawyer,  I have continued working in the legal field for years after moving to the US. All that time, even when I had a newborn baby, and was taking art classes at the college and online, self-educating myself yet couldn’t make the transition to art. Unfortunately, the critical point I missed was that wealth is not only a financial status but also a mentality, i.e., our motivation, perseverance, hard work, and talent which I believe can also be developed in a favorable environment.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I’m a lifestyle, documentary, and portrait photographer who loves to capture emotional moments as is, and document life for my clients. I offer small events photography, such as elopement, engagement, and wedding sessions as well as creative portrait photography and lifestyle family sessions. I have been enjoying showcasing the value of genuinely emotional moments through photography, my working style is natural and free-spirited, I’m trying to catch the glimpse of a moment, and show the value of each breath we make. I love to experiment with light and capture the most emotional and alive moments. It is truly rewarding to know that my clients appreciate the unique beauty of their life through my photographs. Photography’s more than just a business for me, it’s a lifestyle and passion. I have to admit it can be challenging to be creative and business oriented at the same time. Prior to starting a photography and art business,  I graduated from law school and worked in the legal field for several years.

What makes you happy?

The ability to work not only on business but also on personal projects and show my voice through photography makes me absolutely happy. You can see below some photographs from my recent project called Mother Nature. The ladies holding each other’s hands in the photograph you see, symbolize Mother Nature itself. Ladies playfully dance, laugh, relax and talk which is a rare thing in present reality. Every human is deeply connected to nature and someone should be out there to remind us about it in this busy commercial world. Impressionistic photography in this project was the most appropriate style to capture the moment’s realness. The pure moment is even more valuable when it comes to bringing up life memories. Specifically, the compositions are made to talk for themselves, and make the viewer stop for a moment, and feel the same moment. I am always open to collaboration and happy to visualize creative ideas with other artists and art lovers.

Nowadays, having to work based on my little children’s schedules makes me also happy, it allows me to get a chance to photograph their daily life, and thus make lasting memories of their childhood.

For me, social interaction, community support, and discussions matter a lot. In today’s competitive reality, I have been very lucky to find the small community of Santa Clarita to be so very friendly and supportive. At the end of the day, it is true that “Supporting small business is supporting somebody’s dream”. I still take clients this year and have great plans for the upcoming year, including showcasing artwork, doing art workshops, and conducting group art classes for children.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sonakechiyants.com

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sona_kechiyants/