JEDDAH/RIYADH, 10 March 2004 — “I’m usually given the time I need when people realize that I’m not a photojournalist trying to steal a few quick shots,” says Karim Ramzi, 42, known worldwide for his fashion and portrait photography.

“My photographs reflect my subjects’ personality and what they want to tell the world,” he told Arab News in an interview.

The royal families of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco have been among his subjects, and his outstanding images have been exhibited in France, Morocco, Canada and Algeria, besides the Kingdom.

Currently, 100 of his pictures are on show at the French Embassy in Riyadh. He will next exhibit in Japan, the Philippines and, toward the year-end, in Lebanon. He claims to be the first Arab photographer to make it big in the Western world.

When dealing with new subjects, he likes to spend about an hour and a half with them before the shoot. If he is shooting in their home, he likes to take a tour of the house and find the best place to set up his equipment.

“Often, I’ll need to move heavy furniture because houses are not usually decorated to photographers’ tastes and space is always a problem.”

The level of stress can be very high in his business, so he tends not to take the sessions too seriously. His attitude reflects very quickly on everyone involved. “The photographer is the maestro and can make or break the session,” says Karim who is associated with magazines in Europe and America.

“My website has received 1.5 million hits mostly from India, which I long to visit.” His wife Naima, a textile designer, has visited Bombay several times.

Karim, who has been based in Paris for seven and a half years, was born into a diplomatic family in Marrakech. He attended high school in Morocco, graduated from the Royal College in Rabat — where King Mohammed was his classmate — and attended Ottawa University in Canada where he majored in political science and communications.

He insists that there is a lot of psychology involved in his work, as he has to deal with everyone’s ego and try to make them follow his timing and rhythm. It is always harder when the model doesn’t like the clothes, or the hairdresser does not like the makeup. It can end up being a nightmare.

However, these situations don’t occur very often. “Many clients trust me to choose my own team of makeup artists, stylists, hairdressers and models, which make my job easier.”

His favorite subjects are actors, comedians and dancers. They are always open in front of the camera and willing to be directed to deliver whatever he has in mind for the image.

Currently working on several book projects and booking print exhibitions in other countries, he has also been involved in shooting music videos and has just produced, directed and edited “Pagaito,” a song by Los Angeles based Salsa singer Yari More.