In 1972, 15-year-old Abner Zarabi fled Iran for the United States with two things — his brother and his love for photography.
It would take Zarabi more than 20 years to pursue his passion for photography and another 20 to find his ultimate source of expression — Photoshop.
Now, Zarabi said, he hopes to focus his career around his Photoshop creations, where he combines images of anywhere between two and 10 photos to create his own, unique piece.
“I think it’s God’s gift to me,” he said.
Zarabi, who lives in Roslyn Heights, said after creating a Photoshop piece he develops video showcases of his work on YouTube.
His channel, he said, now has over 2,300 subscribers and 2 million views.
He said he mainly promotes his work through the videos and his Facebook page, Abner Zarabi Photography, which also has received more than 2,300 likes. He said he gained such a large following through sharing the page on his personal Facebook and asking friends and family to do the same.
“Sometimes [the] perfect photograph is captured, sometimes [it] is created,” he said.
Zarabi’s next step in transitioning into a Photoshop career, he said, is moving onto promoting his art in galleries.
He is currently working on setting up an exhibit at the Bryant Library in Roslyn, and hopes to also display his Photoshop work in the Port Washington Library.
Zarabi said his interest in photography began at age 10, when he created his very own “paper camera” as a toy.
He said he soon upgraded to his father’s box camera, taking portraits of family members and other members of his community.
At age 12, he received his first project when his family selected him to do the photographs and video recording of his brother’s wedding.
But even though the family enjoyed the photos, Zarabi said, his brothers were not supportive of him pursuing his enjoyable hobby as a career.
“My brothers were against me,” Zarabi said. “It was jealousy of talent. They also wanted me to work for somebody, and I hated that.”
Even with his brothers’ disapproval, Zarabi went on to pursue photography as he entered high school in the United States, where he said he came to gain freedom that was not available to him in Iran.
He enrolled at Kearney High School in New Jersey, where he was honored with a first-place award for portrait photos he took of his aunt and uncle.
“It was the first time I realized that I could make something out of it,” he said. “It gave me confidence.”
After winning the award, Zarabi said, his family began to give him a little more support, but his real support came from his photography teacher, who inspired him to continue on with his work.
“I was the photography teacher’s pet,” he laughed. “Every time I had a project to do, he really loved my work. “
Although Zarabi went to college for photography and film, he entered the jewelry business, as he said his main focus at the time was “making money.”
“I did that to make a living,” he said. “Photography was a hobby.”
But he eventually decided to close his jewelry business and open up his own photography studio, Best Picture, in Great Neck 20 years ago, which was around the same time that he discovered his newest passion: Photoshop.
“In 1996, I went to the store to buy a mini camera and I saw computers and Photoshop –– and it attracted me,” he said. “So, I bought a computer, I bought the software, and I enjoyed learning it.”
Zarabi said a Photoshop piece takes only 15 to 20 minutes to create, but the video showcases of his Photoshop work on YouTube takes about two hours to put together.
His advice for young photographers interested in Photoshop?
“Shoot first, learn more about photography, and then move on to Photoshop,” he said.
