For Nadeen Abuhasan, photography acts as a stress reliever. The 22-year-old Weston resident spends much of her time studying for the medical school admissions test — she recently graduated from Simmons College with a focus on neuroscience and chemistry — but her Instagram gallery (@nartsyness) documents her more artistic endeavors. Abuhasan credits much of her talent to genetics, as her father dabbles in photography as well: “It just comes naturally to me, to do this kind of stuff,’’ she said.
Q. Much of your feed consists of beautiful meals and Boston streets. Is photography just something that accompanies your everyday life?
A. Yes. If I’m in the city walking around and I find something that captures my attention, I take a picture of it, whether it’s a stoop in Beacon Hill or a door. I don’t have a specific plan set out. If I’m in the city sometimes and I’m having coffee, I’ll catch up with other Instagram friends and we’ll go out taking photos, walking around, discovering new places. It’s never really a set-in-stone calendar event.
Q. Do you find that the eye for detail needed in photography has affected how you view your life?
A. I want to say that my eye for detailed work comes from various different things in life, not just photography. It also comes from the fact that I’m a science major. Given the fact that I study neuroscience, there are a lot of procedures in the lab where you’re doing detailed work that requires a lot of precision.
Q. Is photography something that you’d ever want to pursue professionally?
A. I am right now in this sort of zone where I do appreciate science — I’m considering med school — but I’m not as headstrong as someone who is like, “I know this is meant for me.’’ I also do graphic design, so that part, being a visual designer, is a potential career path.
Q. Do your graphic design and photography skills ever interact?
A. They definitely go hand in hand. It’s all about having that eye for creativity in order to show people a certain way of presenting an image. If you tie that back into Instagram, when you’re editing a photo there’s a lot that goes into it. Like, “Oh, should I increase saturation or should I decrease saturation? Do I want to focus on just, for example, the John Hancock building in the center of my image or do I want to focus on the ducks in the water at the Public Garden?’’
Q. Some of your recent photographs were taken in other countries, like Turkey. What was that experience like?
A. I went to Jordan this past summer, and on my way to Jordan I stopped in Turkey for about three days. It’s really incredible what travel can do to a person. There are so many people who might have the same talent as you; they’re just in different cultures. I feel like that adds more depth to who we are and this network of humanity. I feel like that’s super important for someone to have — that exposure, to be open-minded and appreciate other people whether you agree or disagree with their values.
Interview was edited and condensed. Sonia Rao can be reached at sonia.rao@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @misssoniarao.
