Sirin Samman Photography

We hired Sirin Samman to take photos at our son’s Bar Mitzvah on the Upper West Side this Spring 2016.
Amazing, awe-​inspiring, beautiful, thoughtful, composed, real, true, memorable, aware, understanding of the moment in a way that makes each shot so special, capturing the gravity and ritual, the love, the warmth, the culture, the veneration of the book, the beauty of the objects, the power and importance of the moment — these are just a few things that come to mind as I go through the photos!
From beginning to end, I found her work to be consistently creative and aesthetically superior to any other photography I’ve seen of these kinds of events. A rite of passage is a moment in time that is so significant, I am so impressed with how Sirin used her skills, artistry and craft, to capture the feelings that we had that day. The joy and the pride and the great moments are given back to us in her photographs so that we will be able to relive them forever.
This was, by far, the happiest day of my entire life, and to see these photographs that she took is tremendous to me, because they are even better than I could ever have imagined or would remember. The way she composed our moments strikes me for the surface of their simplicity and yet I am sure they are complex shots. This lets me have my own response in dialogue with what she’s done and somehow feels to me as if her pictures give me room to relive these moments in an aesthetically pleasing way. I am overwhelmed and completely impressed! I am in love with her work! I would recommend Sirin and her work to anyone interested in hiring an artist who is capable of finding the importance of the event and is truly able to capture the feelings of the participants in a true yet creatively enhanced way. The pictures tell the story of the day so beautifully! It will be a great treasure to keep forever!
Wow — I love the old books! I love the Rabbi and Hazzan, especially the Hazzan with the torahs behind her with our son. The photos with our son alone at that blank wall. The shots with his Dad, the shots of him with me, and the photos of the three of us – thank you forever for these photographs that capture my family in such wonderful way. It will change the way I think of us and what we’ve been able to do as a family. Having these photographs to look back on gives me such a great feeling about who we are as a family, and this will alter the course of our lives for the better.
This is because Sirin bring so much to them. She is an artist and approaches her work from her own sense of beauty with training and history and experience, and we are honored and blessed by her and her incredible work.

What a great person, this is one of the first time I actually found a photographer who listened and gave me lots of help.

I had a very challenging job for Sirin — to shoot photos of my 14-​piece jazz big band during our monthly live performance at The Shrine in Harlem. Our band plays on such a small stage that the saxes and trombones have to stand in front, the stage is lit with flashing colored lights, that flash in random sequence in the otherwise darkened ambience of the venue. Many other photographers have tried, and based on the previous results, I was hoping to get one usable photo out of the batch that Sirin took during our last performance. When she sent me the edited file of 66 ready-​to-​go photos of my band, I was absolutely blown away. I had 66 usable photos, including a group of six or seven that I will use EVERYWHERE — on my website, in promotional materials, etc. Never before has someone solved the entire series of problems involved in shooting at The Shrine — there was my big band in great color, clear focus, uniform lighting, all present in the frame without excessive fisheye effects. How did she do it? I have no idea — but I sure am pleased with the result.

Pros:
(+) Sirin is punctual and reliable
(+) Super easy to work with
(+) Turnaround of photos are fast!
(+) She is flexible on going to location
(+) She does weddings, engagements, photoshoots, documentary, headshots, food photography, newborns, boudoir, etc.
Cons:
(-) None.
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I can’t even begin to explain how amazing Sirin is to work with. I’ve used her services countless amount of times. I distinctly remember one time when I working on a celebrity photoshoot for a magazine, the original photographer that was hired to document behind the scenes did not show up. At a last minute whim, I had suggested to the Creative Director for the magazine to use Sirin since she was highly recommended to me. After he agreed, within a few minutes notice, Sirin rushed all the way to Brooklyn to be there. She saved the day and took amazing photos!!! She knew exactly what she was doing! Not only that, we got the photos within 2 days! I was ecstatic!
I’ve hired her for several events since then and have not been disappointed since. She has a keen eye for capturing the most natural moments. I had even suggested her to my friends who are getting married to do their engagement photoshoot. I actually went with my friends to meet Sirin and I recorded the behind the scenes of the photoshoot which you can view here:
Sirin was so amazing! I couldn’t believe how fast she was after that photoshoot. Her turn around time for those engagement photos was 3 days and my friends were in tears after seeing their engagement photos. I have to admit… I cried too! Don’t judge. lol Hey… you would cry too!
She has an impressive portfolio and I’ve seen her even work with celebrities such as Barbara Walters, Colin Powell, Julianne Moore, Claudia Jordan and more. I know this will not be the last time that I will work with her and I’m quite positive that I will have another updated review about her very soon.

Sirin is the consummate professional. She arrived on time to my events and really listened to what I wanted the end result to be. She has an amazing eye and a great sense of tone that create a photo «story» from each event. My office has worked with her several times for a wide range of high profile events and casual gatherings– and we have NEVER been disappointed in the product. She can be discreet enough to not distract from the event itself, but clever enough to get in there for the perfect candid shots. I’m always amazed at all the moments captured when she sends us the final proofs. Beyond that, she takes the time to pick out the best photos and puts them in a separate folder so you don’t have to browse endlessly. High quality work!

She made me very comfortable which lead to some amazing shots. Thanks Sirin.