Join us at Elysium Gallery for our third in person meeting with Pembrokeshire based photographer Mohamed Hassan on Wednesday 27th of October .
Originally from Alexandria in Egypt, Mohamed Hassan has been living and working in Pembrokeshire, west Wales since 2007, and graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Photography from Carmarthen School of Art in 2016. Living and studying in Wales has been pivotal to his journey as an artist. On exploring more of Wales, Mohamed found inspiration in the rugged landscapes around him. As a newcomer he has become captivated with its rich and artistic culture and language, steeped in ancient folklore and song – and has a continuing fascination in photographing people living and working in west Wales both outdoors in the natural environment of the area and in the studio.
Mohamed and Portrait Photography
My portrait work aims to challenge some of the stereotypes and judgements that people make about other people. My personal experience as an Egyptian living in Wales for the last 10 years is that I am often judged or stereotyped by my appearance. During the last few years, as a result of events in the world, I have personal experience of less tolerance of my background with people sometimes behaving very negatively towards me as a fear of Islam and Muslims has grown.
Increasingly in my work I want to explore equality and tolerance in a wider way. I choose to take photographs of people of different ages, gender, race and sexual orientation. I try to have a consistent approach to photographing my subjects, I want to find a way to equalize each subject and strip away their personal appearance so that the impression that the viewer gets is of a human, an individual, not a stereotype. On some shoots subjects are not clothed which represents the equality that we all have at birth and death, seeing beyond the subject’s outer appearance and presenting a calm inner presence in the images I produce. It is my hope that the viewer of my portraits asks: Who is this person? What is their story? Is this person the person I think or believe they are? We welcome all photographers and non photographers. There will be a £6 entry fee, which includes a drink. All profits go towards supporting our artists.
Book your place here.