Business Profile: Photoworks by Rick

– Courtesy photo

By Gus Herrera

Rick Keshishi, owner of Photoworks by Rick in Monrovia, has always been intellectually geared towards everything mechanical. “I was always a thinker, for everything, but especially electronics,” he reveals.

Growing up, his uncle owned a store, similar to his (albeit without the wealth of modern digital technology), so he had full access in his explorations of all the cameras and equipment.

With that said, Keshishi originally contemplated starting his own smog check business, but he eventually changed his mind, partly upon realizing how much he missed photography, “I didn’t like not being around pictures and it didn’t help being around grease all the time.”

So Keshishi followed his heart, working in the one-hour photo department at what was then Thrifty and eventually be-friending a Kodak technician, who recognized his natural talent with electronics and his skills as a problem-solver, “he would call me and we solved problems over the phone … I saved him some money and he liked the fact that I was into it.”

As a result, Keshishi was soon offered a job with Kodak, where he quickly proved that he was a natural fit for the industry. A few years later, Keshishi opened his own store and the rest is history.

Today, he operates Monrovia’s one-stop shop for everything related to prints/photography and he is still as passionate about the industry, as when he was a curious child tinkering with the equipment in his uncle’s shop, “I don’t really feel a day that I’m working, because when I come to work, I love what I do. I rush to work, rather than rush back home.”

Keshishi reveals that when he started the business, the birth of digital photography did present some problems, at first, “it was tough at the beginning, because people were so excited to do the photos themselves – companies made equipment/paper so cheaply available. But after a while, people figured, ‘this is taking me too long, the ink is too expensive, paper is too expensive, the printer is breaking, I’m taking too much time.’ So they started to come back.”

Keshishi has a saying: “If digital closed an alleyway, it opened up four highways.” He explains how certain things we take for granted today, were indeed works of fantasy before the digital age, “If you wanted to put a collage together, there was no such thing, if you wanted to enhance your picture to look like a painting, there was no such thing. It was all just regular prints, maybe a fancy album, but that was it … you could never make a decent mug, you could never have a photo booth at your wedding, print on wood or metal, all of those are the highways it opened up – before it was just print, print, and print.”

Furthermore, digital photography affords more leeway than film, “making a good print was not easy, it was hard … In every step, if you made a mistake, your pictures could go south. But now there’s so much latitude in digital pictures that you can make an ugly, over-exposed picture something decent and interesting – because we can, but it wasn’t a choice back then.”

But maybe the most impactful consequence of digital photography is the accessibility. “The hardest part was distribution at the time – you would have to make prints and send them to everybody. Right now you can do all that instantly,” says Keshishi.

Photoworks by Rick has indeed capitalized on these highways opened by the digital world, offering a variety of print services: large format pictures, posters, banners, greeting cards/invitations, calendars, and more. They can also print custom photo gifts: mugs, shirts, bags, hats, tiles, and iPhone cases.

Other services include: Giclee printing, passport pictures, custom framing, and Photoworks can even bring the fun of a photo booth to your next party or gathering. Keshisi is hoping to soon expand into wedding photography and video services, as well.

But where Photoworks by Rick’s specialty (and a substantial amount of business) truly lies, is in photo scanning/restoration and video conversions (VHS to DVD/digital format). These services are invaluable, as they in essence, preserve family memories (i.e. all those embarrassing baby pictures and beloved wedding videos). Keshishi is a perfectionist, as he carefully converts old photographs into high-resolution, color-corrected images. “Believe it or not we do slides by the thousands, because people want to digitize them, share them, give everybody a copy. They’ve been sitting in the attic for years, losing their color.”

Photoworks by Rick is located at 109 W. Foothill Blvd. in Monrovia. For more information, call (626) 303-5555, email rick@photoworksbyrick.com, or visit www.photoworksbyrick.com.

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