Djamel Haraigue
His roots are from Algeria and is married Alhamdulillah and has two daughters aged 8 and 4 Mashallah.
He is a Paris-based interior architect but has always longed to be a photographer. Having a constant desire to illustrate how he sees the world his camera has become his paintbrush and canvas.
To hear that his work brings joy to others makes him feel quite blessed.
“What more can an artist hope for?” he states, and rightly so.
He points out that “once a famous architect had said that “God is in the details” (attributed to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)”, and we believe he currently carries this idea into his current photography.
He believes that some things are obvious, and are just begging to be photographed, whilst others are not so obvious. He has taken a numerous amounts of pictures, subjects posing from: faces; streets; landscape; and skies, etc. He states that the feedback on them has been very positive, Alhamdulillah.
“Everyone likes the composition, the bigger, larger then life picture, including me. But then there are the small unnoticed details such as: that hidden moment; and the stolen glance. Those are the things I’m always looking for…
…and sometimes, when I’m lucky, I find them.”
We are pleased to welcome and interview the Photographer and Interior Architect: Djamel Haraigue.
1-Has your background in architecture helped in your photography? If so how?
Sure, architecture is related to photography, through geometry, forms, this gave me the sense of the composition of my photographs, a combination of geometry, light and sensitivity. I love to present in my photographs a 3D effect by taking one thing among things moving behind.
medersa ben yousef
2-Your photography touches on the human in the environment quite often, what is it you are sharing with us through these photographs?
Many friends of me ask why do I like to photograph unknown people in the street. The reason is that I find that a photo without human presence is quite impersonal and I feel that some photographs could be “cold”.
I like composing with space, lines and human. Sometimes, I am standing in the street. Things change second to second and, suddenly, a magic scene appears and it’s the time of taking the photograph, perhaps the only good one for a long time.
Anima
3-How do you find the differences in people of France to the people in Al Magreeb where it concerns photographing them?
Of course, the culture is different, spiritually and humanly, between Europe and Maghreb.
In Europe, there is no time, people are always speeding. In the south countries, It’s different. People enjoy their time. However, I don’t feel that I use a different way while taking pictures in Europe or anywhere else in the world.
detail of casbah door
4-Did you ever come across a time where you had left the camera at home and you found the perfect photo opportunity and missed it? If so can you tell us about it?
It often happened to me in the past and I imagined myself, in such situations, shooting the interesting subject. Today, thanks to my Iphone, I can take as many pictures as I want. and I can send them immediately on my flickr photostream.
Untitled
5-As a family man how do you orientate time around going out and getting photos as well as entertaining the family too?
I often take photos in the weekend with my family, I always bring my camera. But, I try to organize sometimes, photographic trips alone or with a friend photographer.
Mundo uno
6-Your family album must be very large, did you practice photography techniques with your family and then out on the street?
Yes, I worked the art of portraiture, taking pictures of my family. My daughters learned to pose for me :-) And now, I have transposed these techniques to the pictures I take outside.
el hadj
7-What has changed in you since taking up photography and do you feel photography has been a part of that change?
There are many things that have changed in me, I like going out alone to concentrate on the surrounding scenes, watching people with a special look, follow the path of a bird alighting on a branch, I think photography allowed me to be more patient and enjoy what is happening around me, take a little time, I feel that my mind is more open.
sunny girl
8-Who do you go to for tips and tricks of photography?
Mainly on the internet, I didn’t have lessons of photography, but I often visit exhibitions, I buy books & magazines, and I learn a lot by looking at pictures of a great photographer.
boyz from the casbah
9-Someone starting out in street photography may need some guidance, what advice would you give to them?
The first advice I give them is to have a DSLR with a prime lens, no telephoto. The only way to take in more or less of the scene is to walk closer to or further from the subject, it teaches us to move toward the stage that we want to take pictures, It’s called “zoom with your feet”, The principle is just to walk the street, observe things and to be alert. And : the magic moment happens.
The second advice is to vary the styles: portraits, landscapes, subjects streets, inside and outside, night and day. without confining it to a style like reportage photographer, humanist or realistic.
With digital DSLR, it’s easy to learn, you have the result immediately on the screen and you can correct the shoot directly in the next picture.
ramadan
10-What initially made you want to pick up a camera?
It’s inexplicable, I like taking pictures, not everyday, but I’m always alert to what is happening around and intervene between reality and me is a visual integration in something personal and indescribable is what motivates me to continue taking photos.
I have a constant need to illustrate how I see the world. My camera is my brush and my picture is my canvas.
red
11-Who inspires you?
André Kertész one of the major photographers of the twentieth century.
Henri Cartier Bresson, photojournalism pioneer, inventor of the concept of “decisive moment”, I am very impressed by all of his masterpieces.
Brassaï for these photos of Parisian nights.
Desiree Dolron for its modernity and imagination.
Jean Baptiste Huynh for these beautiful portraits.
Thank you Djamal for taking your time with us.
You can follow Djamal’s work on his FLIKR account at http://www.flickr.com/people/jamao
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Content other than images owned by Djamel Haraigue are copyright shared between this site’s author (Stuart Perry [Abu Bassam) muslim-photographer.com ©) and Djamel Haraigue and permissions for republication can be had from either author or interviewee at their relevant websites.
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