Featured Artist: Maviah Khan

By Ty Nagvajara

Maviah Khan, a junior, has been taking photography courses at Harriton since freshman year. Through his distinct composition and innate use of color, Khan has created an impressive and striking portfolio. Outside of photography, Maviah enjoys playing basketball when he gets the chance and likes to drive, saying, "it is very therapeutic just to be alone, listen to music, and go wherever I feel like going."

1. Where do you get your ideas/inspiration from?

Many of my ideas have come from Instagram. I also find some of my inspiration has come from different YouTube videos. A lot of my ideas start out very extravagant and over the top and most of the time illegal, but as I go through my whole planning process, the end results come out very close or exactly how I imagine them to come out.

2. What was it like working with the smoke bombs?

Smoke bombs were a very fun object to use. However, they came with a lot of setbacks that are not shown in my photos. For starters, the canister itself became extremely hot and began to burn through our hands, so trying to hold the can was challenging. Another thing we had to be wary about was that our surroundings were very dry and easily flammable, so we had to be extremely careful about that. The last thing was mainly the price. Each canister of smoke lasted around 60 seconds, and they cost about $8, so we had to make use of every second we had.

3. What's the last TV show you binged?

Stranger Things and The Office. I finished both of them in two weeks and was losing my mind.

4. What's one medium of art you'd like to start working on?

I want to start trying to make short films even though I am more of a photo person. Also, I would love to shoot in the morning more during the sunrise because I always see it but am way too lazy to wake up early in the morning to capture it. 

5. Who's your favorite musician? 

My favorite musicians are The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Gunna, 21 Savage, and Playboi Carti.

6. What is one thing you can't live without?

I cannot live without my family or clothes. Many people put their phones for an answer to this, but I could go days without going on my phone, so it does not affect me. My family means a lot to me, so it is definitely a significant thing in my life. Clothing is something I have always been into, and I just love how new trends and new styles come out.

7. Do you have any artists or others who you look up to? Why?

I don't mean to come off as snobby or anything, but I truly do not look up to anyone; I have my own ideas, and I try to be as unique and creative with my ideas as I possibly can.