Photo by Howard Owens.
Akari Lewis-Iburi and Shin Iburi are mixing a keen eye for light and shadow and composition to capture the special moments and occasions of area families and couples.
Their success so far has made it possible for the brother and sister team to open a photography studio in Downtown Batavia.
They've been working together as photographers for more than a decade.
Akari Lewis-Iburi was always interested in photography, she said. She took her first photojournalism class in high school and continued photography as a hobby into college.
It wasn’t until deep into her college career that her brother asked her to go photograph a wedding for the first time.
“It was the summer of my senior year in college,” Akari recalled. “I was an English major, but I actually wanted to be a journalist. I was really interested in photojournalism. My brother got asked to shoot a wedding, and that was our first wedding together. From there, it kind of snowballed.”
The pair now owns and operates a photography studio that specializes in weddings, engagements, senior photos, family photos and maternity shoots. Pulling from her journalistic roots, both Akari Lewis-Iburi and Shin Iburi mix the art of being a wallflower and staging engaging photos. Customers can expect to receive images that feel both beautiful and natural.
Since moving into the new, larger studio space, the siblings hope to install a projector screen within the studio. The pair believes that it will help the couples reminisce about their wedding day in a new way.
“I want them to feel what they felt on their wedding day,” Akari said. “I want them to look back on that moment and feel those feelings again. It’ll be a nice closure to our working relationship.”
Akari also plans to make her new studio space a place for communal gatherings. Since experiencing live music has also been one of her passions, she foresees the studio place to host live music nights showcasing local bands and open mic nights.
“When I was a kid growing up here, there was this cool coffee shop on main street,” she said. “I just want to give a space for original music.”
Iburi Photography is located at 35 Jackson St. in Batavia.
Photo by Howard Owens.
