Meet Nafim Dewan | Entrepreneur & Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nafim Dewan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nafim, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
My name is Nafim and I’m from Grand Prairie, Texas. My “why” comes from my family’s sacrifice when they chose to leave their country of Bangladesh in their 20s and chase a risky opportunity here in the United States.

My father came here with minimal cash in hand and worked multiple full-time jobs simultaneously, and later on, brought my mom into his journey. He continued much of his life working 12-14 hour days and never complained, in fact, his only response was “I do it for you, my children, this family… one day you’ll understand why Abbu (father) must work hard.”

This hopeful, driven, and relentless spirit my father embodied shaped me over the years and ultimately helped me develop a “no-excuse” and obsessive mindset to chase whatever I dreamt of, to not complain, to have tunnel vision, to make good choices, to be hungry for a better life than which I was given.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It all started in the gaming community where I designed YouTube banners in Photoshop 2005 CS2… designing was my early inception into digital art. Over the years, I spent 100s of hours on YouTube and forums learning every little effect, downloading new templates and design resources, and getting back home from school just to open my Toshiba laptop and spend the next 4 hours in Photoshop.

Fast forward to my Sophomore year of High School where I joined 2 organizations that truly tested my creativity and leadership: Business Professionals of America (BPA) and the Technology Student Association (TSA). In my first year of BPA, I was able to make it to the national level in Anaheim, CA where students from our school district traveled to. That is where I met my business partners today, Hanson and Abid who were competing in Video Production. Hanson carried along with him a Canon T2i which he left laying in his room, so while I was hanging out there with Abid and others, I just picked it up and started firing away… Hanson over time helped me learn the key rules of photography, and I took to another 1000 hours on YouTube to this day learning how the best do it.

Fast forward to my Sophomore year of College at UT Arlington, I was moving and realized I hadn’t used my DSLR since shooting Senior Photos in High School (yeah… it was sitting there 2 years in the dust…). I figured I would shoot my shot and start DMing famous people in the DFW area. Weeks of no replies passed me by, and I one day landed on UT Arlington Men’s Basketball’s Instagram page. I said screw it and shot my shot. I sent a message basically saying “I’m a college student with no job, but I have a camera… come let me shoot a practice and see if you like my work? 10 minutes later I receive a message to come in for an interview!

I brought in all the inspiration I had from other excelling creative teams like Texas Tech Athletics, UT Austin Athletics, and more. I also brought printed work samples from my High School photo journalism days, which somehow turned out to be 80% of the 2016 yearbook anyways. I ended up talking to my now-former boss, Matt McGann, and he let me shoot a few practices. Couple of days later, the Director of Operations, Parker, sat me in his office and said “we’re bringing you on… and on our home + away games”. Never in my life did I think a simple DM could get me there!

My journey simplified sounds easy, but it was a lot of moving pieces combined with thousands of hours of self-learning that got me where I am today. I fell in love with the process of learning from others, learning new technologies and applications, going through the directing and editing process myself, and taking ownership of my skillset. This confidence and ability are 15+ years in the making, so it’s not like someone can just pick up a camera and make it. You have to be obsessed!

There were many cases where people actually did not like my work too! Especially early on when I couldn’t articulate poses to my clients, and couldn’t run my business efficiently so it impacted my clients, and being nervous when actually getting in front of my client to take photos/video. I learned to flip those negatives into positives and it got me obsessed with not just the creative process, but with the business piece as well..

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You’re going to need a lot of time in the DFW metroplex to get a grasp of the wonderful food & entertainment scene here…

Let’s start with food: it has to be authentic, heartwarming, and worth every penny… places like Pepper’s Tacos in Grand Prairie, Partenope in Dallas, Al Markaz in Plano, Abe Japanese in Carrollton, and so much more.

Entertainment: such a key piece of DFW growth lately with the addition of Chicken & Pickle, Top Golf for a casual time, and Round One or Andretti to bring out the teenager in you.

Also nice to get some shopping in at North Park Mall, Galleria Dallas, Highland Park Village, and the range of outlet malls nearby (I prefer Grand Prairie Outlets and Allen Outlets). I’m biased toward Grand Prairie because I used to work at Rack Room Shoes there for almost 2 years in High School (had to build up that money for photo equipment!).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My family has been everything… from my father’s sacrifice and consistency… to my mother’s selflessness and forgiveness… to my older brother’s competitiveness and support… my fiance’s positivity and love.

My business partners Hanson and Abid… Hanson was the reason I picked up a camera in the first place that led me on this creative journey and to Abid’s mentorship and entrepreneurial spirit. I know the three of us are destined for amazing lives ahead of us.

To all my K-12 teachers growing up and supporting me through international competitions, to basketball coaches who taught me discipline, and my teammates + managers at all of my previous workplaces who encouraged me to keep climbing. Also special shoutout to my previous boss at UT Arlington, Matt McGann, who pushed my creativity and backed me up to have an amazing experience as a media professional in the real world.

All of my clients who have taught me so much over the years, thank you for allowing me and my team to capture your special moments, and we’re constantly improving our craft thanks to your transparent and constructive feedback time and time again.

Website: https://hnaphoto.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nafimdewan/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nafimdewan/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nafimdewan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nafim.dewan.1

Image Credits
@HNAPHOTO.DFW – please visit https://hnaphoto.com/contact for any inquiries (Hanson, Nafim, Abid).