HASHEM EL MADANI, ‘Studio Practices’

Hashem El Madani: Studio Practices

Hashem El Madani

Size: 16.8 x 22.2 x 1.6 cm

Pages: 128

Published by Arab Image Foundation and Mind The Gap, 2007

The Madani Project includes a series of thematic exhibitions, publications and videos centered on Hashem El Madani and his archive.

Hashem el Madani set up his first studio in his parents' living room in 1948 and as his business grew he moved, in 1953, to a modern space on the first floor of the prestigious Shehrazade building, which he uses still today. This first publication of his work concentrates on the idea of the studio, exploring how Madani's exemplary practice of studio photography is both descriptive and inscriptive of social identities. Madani's studio created a site where individuals could act out identities using the conventions of portrait photography, with the poses inspired by the desires of the sitters. These photographs reflect not only how people look, but also how they desire to be seen.

Includes artist biography and an interview with the artist by Akram Zaatari. Hashem El Madani: Studio Practices won the John Kobal Book Award 2005, presented by The Royal Photographic Society and The John Kobal Foundation in recognition of the best first published monograph by a living photographer.