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You can go and visit Nadir
Hashem's studio without ever leaving your desk. Just click onto
his web site, and a series of blended still images usher you into
a dreamy Zamalek apartment, full of eclectic artifacts arranged in
Bohemian
splendour. What you will not see are the paintings and photographic
art on the walls of his private office, reminding you that Hashem
has a pedigree among the art establishment of Egypt : a member of
the Plastic
Arts Syndicate he also sat on the board of the Supreme Council of
Culture for four consecutive years. Hashem's work has appeared in
various
international publications, Time Magazine being one. The exposure
of his works won him the prestigious Art Directors' Awards. He has
also
been acclaimed at home, where his fine art photography has been shown
extensively in virtually every gallery in Egypt. He was chosen to
exhibit in the Egyptian Academy in Rome which is the highlight of
state recognition.
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To some, the fact that
for twenty years Hashem has also been one of the country's most prolific
and successful photographers
may seem
surprising.
Others recognize that it is his vision as a fine artist that has
been the key to his success. Hashem is one of the few photographers
in Egypt
whose work has a recognizable and unique personal style. A magical
sense of light and movement fills his images, even in his still life
when the
subject is apparently static. And in a marketplace in which you must
be versatile if you want to pay the bills, as every professional
photographer in Cairo will tell you, Hashem is also one of the few
who can claim
true versatility. Whether shooting fashion, interiors, still-life,
food – or
even reportage – the same style and quality shines, almost luminously,
from each and every image. The reason for this is simple: “I just
love maiking photographs!” he reminds me, with a smile. “I'm sentimental
about photographs. There's something special about the still image:
it is a
moment in time and space that lasts ; it is rescuing a moment from
time, holding it there forever making a visual impact through design,
light,
form and colour; that is my ultimate goal”.
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Another
reason is that he applies the same painterly principles each time
he looks through the lens, regardless of the subject. The word “luminous” is
apt in describing Hashem's work, since the way that he uses light
is the key to his method and vision.
“Lighting in photography is like painting;
the light is my brush. I grew up in Alexandria where there really are
four seasons. You see the changes in the weather and the way the light
alters the colours in the sea. I used to spend hours watching the interplay
of light on life – long before I ever thought of being a photographer.”
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Indeed, photography
was the last thing on his mind when he majored in medicine and left
for the States
to specialize in gynaecology. But there he became more and more drawn
to the visual arts, studying first painting, and then photography,
alongside his medical work – even taking jobs as photographers' assistant
after working hours.
“I continued
this parallel existence even after I returned to Egypt , but eventually
something had to
give, and by this time maturity had shown me what I really loved.”
Hashem's passion has kept him at the
top of his career, but there are other things in his personal style
that make him easy to work with. He likes people, and has infinite
patience. Whether the shot requires capturing a reflection or grasping
a decisive moment, his approach is the same: calm and relaxed, no matter
how long it takes to get the shot right. His
fashion work often utilizes more than one model at once. He employs
a narrative feeling reminiscent
of some of Europe and America 's best known fashion photographers -
a moment caught in time which has both a history and a future. “I like
images that raise questions,” he confirms. |
I photograph locations
that are familiar in a way that people often won't recognize them.
Similarly when
I photograph interiors I restructure the elements until it glows with
excitement.”
This ability to make
each subject and each image uniquely his own, often transforming
it completely, is what
sets Hashem apart from his peers. When he is hired, he says, clients
rarely interfere with his creative process, because they've hired him
for his particular style and vision. “I continue to regard myself as
an art photographer, and this is what I bring to every assignment.”
Egypt's Insight
, May 2005 
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