We were lucky to catch up with Arson Sefi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Arson, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

The story of my business venture began back in 2018. I was in what felt like a creative dead end street of my life, when one day someone asked if I could photograph them. This person had seen some of my digital illustrations and wanted me to photograph them so I could make an illustration out of the photo. ( this was before AI started doing that for us lol )

I didn’t have a camera and had never used one before but I was happy and excited about the thought of somebody wanting me to photograph and draw them. That same week I went to Best Buy and purchased my first camera with credit.
I set up my first shoot, I didn’t know what I was doing & I was very nervous but the model I shot with was kind and we ended up having allot of fun capturing some cool shots!

That same month I set up some more shoots with that same model, some of her friends and their friends, friends. Before the year was over I had got some of my work published in a high fashion magazine and that gave me momentum to keep going. By 2020 I was now working within the fashion and music industry doing both paid work and creative collaborations with creatives who where on the same vibe as me. People just doing what they love, trying to keep their creative fire alive while trying to survive in this expensive state.

I love the hustle, I enjoy the grind and I always tell everyone it never gets easier but things always get better. The hardest part has been maintaining that genuine passion and love of creativity alive without letting the business or money side things become the sole reason of why we do what we do.

Arson, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

After my first shoot in 2018 I kept shooting, contacting strangers on Instagram to collaborate on shoots with. I kept creating, having fun and learning. By 2019 I had started getting contacted by industry professionals and people in general who noticed my work on social media and wanted to enlist my services.

Gear wise, I started off with a Sony a6000, upgraded to a Sony A7iii in 2019 then up to a Sony A7IV in 2020 along with a drone, gimbal an assortment of professional lenses, microphones and some lights. By this point I was doing allot of both photography and videography. Every shoot provided a new challenge and opportunity to either learn a new skill or the chance to get better at one I already possessed.

For the most part I would work wedding, family and real estate shoots to pay my bills while at the same time sharpening my technical and creative skills. The fashion and music industry shoots never paid as much but where always twice as fun and always provided some form of creative or professional networking opportunities, I hardly considered those shoots work because of how fun they are.

The year is now 2026, I’m still balancing out doing paid work while maintaining the creativity and fun part of the process alive with every shoot I do! I love it and am grateful for the opportunities I get to be a part of. To any aspiring creatives I would say please find something you love, something that nourishes your soul with something good!

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

NFT’s are interesting, I see it as a creative stock that individual artist’s create and put out into the digital market. I never really got into the venture but I did create one for poots & giggles. I produced a digital anime type of illustration along with concept art and 25 second 2D animation of the illustration with some music in it. Ill get fake buyers or spam emails trying to purchase it but so far no legitimate sale has been made on my NFT. lol

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Back in 2025 I was injured in a car accident and had to eventually get spine surgery, I’m still recovering. During the part of that process I went through allot of stress and uncertainty regarding my future as a creative. At one point I was starting to loose my ability to walk and had to use allot of mental strength to constantly reframe my perspective to overcome negative thoughts that would’ve other wise held me down.

I kept going mentally and physically doing what I had to do to take care of my self first before I could worry about my creative future. Slowly everything got better, I fell into allot of editing, working from home as I worked on my physical recovery. I picked up allot of new editing skills and still did a few fashion/creative shoots here and there during this time.

Being able to keep shooting through all that gave me allot of positive energy that helped carry me through my recovery.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mezmeriscenes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mezmeriscenes/

Image Credits

Anaiah
Anika
Jonah
Anthea
Sara
Sidewalks and Skeletons
Destiny Valentine
The Art Hearts Fashion