Fashion photographer MAZEN ABUSROUR published a fantastic editorial in the print and online issues of DESIGN SCENE. Production was in the hands of new GoSee member MERAKI in Dubai. The renowned photographer regularly publishes spreads with couture collections from Dior, Gucci, Chanel, and Kenzo in magazines such as VOGUE, L’Officiel and ELLE. For his breathtaking IRON WOMAN production, Mazen gave an interview in DESIGN SCENE in which he spoke about his inspiration and how the East is becoming more and more exciting. And GoSee has an appetizer for you...
As an artist, what was a defining moment, something that made you sure you want do what you do now? That moment when I started taking my first few photos and the feedback I received from people was what pushed me and made me believe more in myself. At the end of the day, photography is not a product. It’s a work of creativity that can go beyond imagination, and I felt I could take that to infinite levels. That’s what made me sure it was what I wanted to do.
What do you find most attractive about fashion photography? The ability to translate my imagination into a picture through different personas and stories, that can sometimes go beyond what we are used to seeing on a daily basis.
You work in different markets, from publishing in Europe to Middle East and India, yet you always produce a showstopping fashion image. Middle East and India are considered very conservative, how challenging is getting your message across when working with restrictive clients? It’s quite tough and challenging. There were red lines that we can’t cross in that region, however, there was always a way to go around it safely. Many of images get rejected by magazines for that reason, and I end up using them online only. That was one of the reasons why I became more active in other regions. Dubai is still my base though.
Where do you find inspiration and what is your creative process like? Do you like to have full control or do you incorporate team’s ideas with your own? People inspire me: women, human behavior, what people think and don’t say. All sorts of art inspires me; such as paintings, graphics design, architecture, movies, stories…
It starts by receiving a general idea or a mood-board from the client, in most cases they kinda play it safe, so I add to it to give it an edge, a daring factor, something that would make the viewer pause for a second and think. No one wants to see another ordinary shot of a model posing in an ordinary situation. This is not what my audience is expecting from me. FULL INTERVIEW ON DESIGN SCENE
