Natalie Pashaie
Staff Writer
Junior Evan Mateen’s newfound passion for photography is touching the hearts and eyes of all who come across his work. His ability to capture unique and visually pleasing photographs is apparent in every frame. Whether it’s an image of a homeless man or a camel grazing the deserts of the Middle East, Evan’s film photography is easily distinguishable and incredibly captivating.
Q: When did you start developing an interest in photography?
A: It started out the summer going into 10th grade. I was buying used cameras off the
Internet intending to fix them up and sell them for profit, but when I realized how much
cooler (in my opinion) film is compared to digital pictures, I started to get really into it.
Q: Are you taking the photography class at Milken?
A: No, I’m not. I don’t want to be taught how to take pictures, I just like doing it in my free time.
Q: Besides film, what kind of cameras do you like using?
A: I only use film. Other than that, I probably take a couple hundred pictures on my iPhone a week.
Q: What are some of your interests besides photography?
A: Animals, cars, and chocolate. All of which I enjoy photographing.
Q: What do you like most about taking pictures?
A: I guess it’s the excitement I feel when taking what I think is going to be a
really cool picture, and not knowing what it looks like until I get back the developed
negatives. On Tiferet, I had to wait months before I could develop the pictures I had
taken, so it was nostalgic getting back the hundreds of pictures documenting the
incredibly dense and fun previous four months of my life.
Q: How many languages can you speak?
A: It depends. I range from decent to fluent in: English, Spanish, Farsi, Hebrew, and
Chinese. Some broken French and Russian too.
Q: You’re known to always have a quotation for everything. That being said, what is your favorite quote?
A: 无 言 独 上 西楼,
月如钩。
寂寞梧桐深核迩。
剪不断,
理 还 乱,
是离愁。
䫲是一番滋味 咸苹果。
Attached below is a link to some of Evan’s photography: