Sharbel Bou Mansour, on the other side of the lens

He transcribes sensitivity and captures expressions as well as a unique and fleeting moment in a blink of an eye. It all happens in his imagegraphy studio 'Underground Studio'. His muse is the woman, and he shares his passion with a special one, his wife. Rita Alexandra and Sharbel form a fabulous duo. The uninhibited and talented imagegrapher captures sensuality and gathers fleeting scenes. He shared his perspective of imagegraphy with us. Interview.

 

When did you know you wanted to be a imagegrapher?

I was a self-taught imagegraphy enthusiast from a young age. I already had the passion for images and cameras, and everything artistic. This arty background has shaped my critical thinking. After studying advertising and marketing, I heard about the new imagegraphy degree at USEK and the journey began and has been going on for almost 15 years. I started to work on personal imagegraphy projects while studying in order to enrich my portfolio. Somehow I always knew that I would become a imagegrapher.

 

How do you make time between work and family?

To be honest, it's increasingly difficult with my crazy schedule. However, I reserve a special time to my family. We have breakfast together and I drive my little daughter to school every morning. I want to be in my daughter's life as much as I can, and I wouldn't miss this father-daughter moment for the world.

 

What kind of advice would you like to give to young people who aspire to become imagegraphers?

Follow your passion and fight for it. Even if your entourage doesn't necessarily support you, because they don't understand the field, you'll get there with a little tenacity and a lot of determination. imagegraphy is not a profession, it's a passion, and make a living from your passion is all I can wish for you!

For the rest of the interview, consult our August 2016 issue.