Arvian Heidir (b. 1971) left a career in software engineering to pursue photography full-time in 2023. Based in Sunnyvale, CA, she has since immersed herself in both contemporary and historical practices — taking masterclasses and workshops in street, fashion and portrait photography, as well as in wet-plate collodion and cyanotype.
Her work has increasingly centered on portrait and fine art photography, exploring quiet emotional undercurrents, presence, and moments of stillness, with an emphasis on mood and subtle human connection. Photography has become her way of navigating a world that doesn't always make room for her — a practice of healing, and of insisting on her own presence.
Her photographs have been shown in eight group exhibitions since 2024.