DG exclusively interviews Emad Kassem - known for pushing the boundaries to create work that is emotional, edgy, original and most of all captures a unique moment in time...

Who is Emad Kassem...?
When I was in school, I use to randomly visit production studios, and I got that feeling that one day this is what I will be doing for a living, it grasped my attention -- every single detail in this field. The DOP, how he used and manipulated with the light units, and how drastically it affected the composition. Later on I enrolled in Applied Arts in 1989, when I was in college I use to help my colleagues in cinematography and photography with their projects.

How do you update yourself professionally...?
When I started in this field, It wasn’t during the digital world. Youtube, social media, digital cameras weren’t around. I used to ask my friends who travel to get me books and VHS tapes on learning techniques in photography and lighting, to keep myself updated with the international market. In 1992, I heard about Adobe Photoshop, a Macintosh based software used to enhance images and help in photo manipulations. I started to learn about it until I mastered it, and then started using it in my career. In 1996, I started photography, I use to shoot portfolio for models and always tried to achieve a different type of composition, different techniques and this is what actually got me recognized in the market. I started to work with magazines. Nowadays finding all these tools available at your fingertips, definitely makes things more easier and accessible, giving me more time in hand to do more researches and getting to know what’s new in the international market related to photography.

What are the latest techniques in the art of photography...?
There are no latest techniques in photography, but we can say what are the latest trends. Like having the vintage feel on images, that was achieve during film processing back in the days. Now you have plugins that give you that same effect. Techniques in photography follow the guidelines or the basics of photography and lighting, but it differs from one photographer to another based on his creativity, how and when to use these techniques and how to manipulate it to achieve a different image. A new technique that I could say would be HDR, taking shots of a scene or landscape with different exposures, when merged together, it would give you greater dynamic range of luminosity, resulting in an astonishing image.

Who is the most beautiful face that you worked with...?
Every now and then, I get to see a facial feature that grasp my attention. One of the most beautiful faces I worked with would be Possy and superstar Samira Saeed.

What about politics and the role of the artist in politics?
We all have to work for Egypt’s sake, everyone in his/her field. If I got the chance to meet President El Sisi I will talk to him about the old people and their pensions, and to give them more care. I am also ready to hold any free event for their sake.

Who would you like to work with...?
Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, as I look into their portfolios or album covers, I see creativity in their work and I’m always looking forward to working with creative people.

You worked in movie and CD Posters, tell us about this experience...?
In the early 2000’s the film industry was picking up and a lot of movies with a new trends were being released, new artists started to rise within the Egyptian market. New cinemas were being opened in Egypt. At that time movie poster was a still frame from the movie shoot itself. I felt that there wasn’t any creativity put into photography. Sarah Abdel Meneem made that change happen, where movie poster should have a feel, consist of a composition related to the movie and target its audience. This is when I started to collaborate with Sarah, where we started to structure images related to the movie, and most of the actors didn’t understand what we are actually trying to achieve. When it came to CD and cassette artworks, we always tried to think out of the box, come up with something different. I believed that the importance of the artwork is as important as the music itself, as it is the look and feel of the album before hearing it. I had to listen to the whole album to get a feel of what it is, in order to come up with an artwork that reflects the music within. I’ve worked with a lot of artists, like Samira Saeed, Mohammed Fouad, Mustafa Amar, Ehab Tawik, Amer Monib and Hamaki. Each time the concept has to be different and also better than the previous one, which makes it difficult cause I always challenge my previous artwork.

As a professional photographer, how do you see photography in Egypt, and what does it need to compete internationally...?
With the evolution happening in technology of cameras, it made it possible for a lot of individuals to get in this field and the availability of learning online, made it easy for people to learn about photography. In todays market there are a balanced amount of professional photographers and amateur photographers. But at the end it all goes back to one point, your creativity. In order for us to compete internationally we still lack a proper photography organization, which would help in getting local photographers work exposure and being known as an international measure.

Who are your competitors...?
I honestly don’t look at it from this angle. I always appreciate hard, creative work.

What would you like to say...?
I’d like to say that the journey that I had in photography is quite long, and without the support of my wife, Shaima Ebid, it would have been an exhausting one, she has shown me support through out the way and has always pushed me forward. Her creativity and her vision makes me more successful.