PIXLIGHT
Award-winning photographer and entrepreneur Arash Hamidi’s journey to Alexandria began half a world away.
Hamidi was born and raised in Iran, where he started 3 art-related small businesses and taught photo lighting and philosophy of arts at a number of universities.
In 2016, he moved to Alexandria with his wife, who is working on her Ph.D. from the Alexandria branch of Virginia Tech. He obtained his U.S. green card through extraordinary ability (EB1) in the field of the arts, and now manages a marketing firm, HamidiArt LLC.
Hamidi recently wrapped up a campaign on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter for his current project, PiXLIGHT, which he describes as a “lightweight, portable, powerful and off-camera speedlight for all photographers.”
PiXLIGHT eliminates many of the common problems with the traditional flash, like bulkiness and long set-up and take-down time. It weighs only 3.5 pounds and collapses down to a mere 12.6 inches. It also uses a rechargeable battery and it syncs with all types of cameras, including smartphones.
PIXLIGHT
“As a child, I always looked at things in a different light. I always thought of how certain things could perform better, or how they had flaws. My father always encouraged me to try and find solutions for these problems instead of just complaining,” explained Hamidi. It was his years of experience as a professional photographer that led him to observe how to perfect the flash and develop PiXLIGHT.
The Kickstarter campaign for PiXLIGHT successfully raised more than $214,000 — more than 21 times the original goal — but raised less than anticipated due to the coronavirus outbreak, which greatly affected the last 10 days of the campaign. Hamidi says that the coronavirus will also impact the production and distribution of PiXLIGHT.
“Because PiXLIGHT is an international project being manufactured in various countries, we need to be there in person and monitor everything closely to be sure to deliver nothing short of what we promised,” said Hamidi.
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down activity around the globe but Hamidi is thankful his supporters have been very understanding. PiXLIGHT was originally supposed to be delivered to backers this summer, with mass production in October, but Hamidi believes this timeline will be significantly delayed.
Despite the setback, Hamidi is not the type of person to let challenges get in his way. He says he had a notebook filled with over 600 innovative ideas when he arrived in the United States. It has been a challenge navigating the business atmosphere of a new country, but he is confident he and his team will find the right connections to continue to expand.
Hamidi’s next project will be a product that will help keep people safe and sanitized during the current pandemic. “This product will give you the ease of mind throughout the day, which is exactly what we need in these times,” he says.
To learn more about PiXLIGHT, visit pixlight.us and follow the project on Facebook, Instagram @pixlightus and Twitter @PixLight2019.
