UCLA student ‘Prince Rooz’ explores photography, film and design

When 14-year-old Roozbeh Riahi was given his first camera by his father right before his summer trip to Barcelona, he took the photo that forever changed his life’s trajectory.

“I took a picture of this girl on the beach.She said, ‘Let’s go develop the film,'” Riahi said. “It was a very grainy photo, perfectly centered, very natural. The sky was bleached blue, her bathing suit was bleached blue, and everything fit.”

Ever since taking that photo, Riahi, a second-year neuroscience student, often referred to by his alias Prince Rooz, developed an interest in subject photography. Now Riahi’s work can be seen on his website, which not only includes photography, but also features a short film and designs for a fashion line. Most of Riahi’s artwork takes the form of fashion-inspired photography, which he has been doing for the past five years.

The photography on the website is displayed as photo essays, some of which, like “Panama City,” depict the daily sights of faraway places. However, most of Riahi’s photography is set in nearby locations such as the hallways of Broad Art Center“, behind Melnitz Hall and empty lots and alleys around Los Angeles. Although the photo essays vary in terms of location, the emphasis on the subject and their sense of style remain consistent.

The photo essay titled “Speed,” shot in Drake Stadium, features second-year physiological science student Michael Bailey’s emotional process of running a 400-meter sprint. The series is shot almost exclusively in black and white, with only the Nike shoes Bailey is wearing being accentuated with bright colors.

Riahi said his creative process can vary anywhere from spontaneously snapping a picture with a Kodak disposable camera to closely analyzing his subject in terms of contrast, saturation and exposure with a Nikon D3000.

“He just sees things – he doesn’t necessarily go somewhere knowing what he wants to shoot,”said Benjamin Tabbush, a first-year pre-business economics student and one of Riahi’s close friends. “He’s not going out of his way to be artistic; he just has an artistic eye and the camera reflects his gaze.”

One such spontaneous shoot, which features second-year ethnomusicology student Amir Ali, also known as Prince Ali, was set in an abandoned lot covered in colorful garbage and graffiti,and led to the photo essay titled “Haven.” The photo essay depicts Ali interacting with some of the trash, as well as contributing to it by spray painting his own graffiti tag on the lot walls.

“‘Haven’ was one of my favorite projects that I’ve ever done because it was so absolutely spontaneous and wasn’t planned at all. We just got there and found this really cool spot off of Gayley, hopped the fence and just started taking pictures,” Riahi said. “That place just became our haven.”

Riahi said another project that veers away from photography but is still deeply significant to him is his first short film, “Council of Eden.” It is set in a forest, depicting a standoff between two groups that collide in a violent battle in front of God. Riahi said he found inspiration for the film after taking Ancient Near East 10W: Jerusalem, The Holy City at UCLA and learning that there was a time in the Middle East when all three religions got along. Riahi said he realized that after taking the class, he wanted to create a film emphasizing how pointless the current conflicts are compared to the past cooperation by depicting a battle without explaining a reason behind it.

“I just became very in touch with Islam over the summer,” Riahi said. “I realized that the film was a product of things that were going on in my life personally and how war is senseless.”

Although Riahi is studying neuroscience, he knew coming to UCLA that he wanted to surround himself with people who shared his enthusiasm for the arts. By seeking out those similar to himself, Riahi said that he has not only forged friendships but also forged some notable collaborations.

Riahi’s recent collaboration aspiration extends to his interest in design, with a fashion line called Dreaming of Japan. Riahi said that the line, although still in a very early stage of creation, intends to feature bold designs that would turn heads and reflect L.A. youth culture.

With this line, Riahi said he hopes to form a team of creative and business-minded people pitching as many ideas as possible in order to bring life to his vision of a line on par with brands like Supreme.

“He’s definitely a manager type of person,” said David Gao, second-year environmental science and geography student and potential lead artist for Dreaming of Japan. “He likes to find people with talent and try to bring them together.”

Whether sketching potential designs for T-shirts, adjusting his camera settings for a fashion photoshoot or just snapping a picture of a girl on the beach, Riahi ultimately uses art to reflect his personal perspective.

I feel like people are trying to find equilibrium with how they dress and I think it’s time for a new thing,” Riahi said. “And I don’t want to miss my opportunity to express my generation of kids.”