Artists Interview - Payam Akramipour
Photography was not your first art. Right?
My engagement with art began through learning the tanbur, and later I studied the tar and setar seriously. I reached a point where, in my hometown of Kermanshah, there was little left for me to learn at an advanced level. As a result, I moved to Tehran to study with Keivan Saket, one of Iran’s most respected tar and setar musicians, in order to deepen my technical skills and academic understanding. After some time, I also attended piano
Payam Akramipour
performance and vocal training classes, as I have a strong interest in Western music. This interest was one of the reasons I chose Keivan Saket as a mentor, since alongside Iranian music, he possesses extensive knowledge and experience in Western musical traditions.
In parallel, I was deeply involved in martial arts. I trained seriously in kung fu, where I obtained a coaching certificate, achieved second dan rank, and won several top placements in competitions. I also progressed to advanced levels in karate.
You have undertaken photography just as seriously. What caused you to change directions?
Originally, I had no intention of attending university. I believed, as demonstrated by figures such as Keivan Saket and other artists
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who never pursued formal higher education, that one could still become highly skilled and intellectually grounded without a university degree. My first contact with photography was practical rather than academic. I needed have a portrait taken to accompany a piece of music I had composed and I approached several studios, including one in Kermanshah, managed by Hadi Parvizi. Gradually, through this process, I developed a genuine interest in photography. I asked Mr. Parvizi to teach me photography so I could eventually establish my own studio. He sent me to Majid Pakray instead, emphasizing his extensive knowledge and experience.
How did you decide to take the University path? A big jump from studying studio photography as a trade.
Mr. Pakray strongly encouraged me to pursue higher education. Although I initially resisted, he reiterated during my first private lessons that, despite private teaching being far more financially beneficial for him, university education would open far greater opportunities for me in the long term. While studying for my bachelor’s degree, I simultaneously ran a photography studio and prepared intensively for the highly competitive master’s entrance exam. During this period, Mr. Pakray advised me to step away from studio work and focus fully on my academic future, emphasizing the long-term value of advanced study.
How do you explain the contrast between your initial attitude about higher education and your eventual enthusiam?
During my school years, I did not feel connected to the formal education system or to the fragmented and unrelated subjects being taught, and this deeply frustrated me. At that time, my strongest interests were in sports and the arts. In our school system, art education was largely reduced to simple drawing: students were encouraged to draw whatever they wanted on a blank sheet of paper, and receiving a high grade—19 or 20—was