Haddad was born in Lebanon, and then moved to Nigeria with his parents a year after the civil war started. George grew up between Nigeria and the UK. He studied in Switzerland and graduated from college in the UK.
It might be an ordinary tale of an ordinary man, but it is these people who make a difference, because they live through reality and struggle through the truth of it.
George Haddad has been living in Lebanon since 2004 and in his struggle you can see a man who does not give up and loves what he does best.
George talked to Arab News in his first exclusive interview in Saudi Arabia.
Love, sadness, God and nature.
I was interested in sports since I was a kid. I was especially interested in the more "extreme" type of sports, board sports in particular. So, on a trip with my family in the US, I bought my first skateboard. I kept on skating until I discovered snowboarding when I was in school in Switzerland. I was hooked! It wasn't until many years later, when I discovered kite surfing, that I gave up my snowboard. Photography, on the other hand, was something I enjoyed and still do since I was a kid. Of course, during certain periods of my life I wouldn't take photos, but during other periods I would be constantly photographing. Some of my old childhood friends even say they're not surprised to see that I am a photographer now.
It was during the late nineties that I discovered yoga through some friends who had started practicing it at that time. Although it was interesting to me, I didn't take any classes. I felt at the time a lot of people were doing it because it was a kind of fad or something cool to do, so I didn't want to be part of it. It was when I moved back to Nigeria to work that I met my yoga teacher, who gave me one-on-one classes. It felt more natural and "traditional" that way, which is how I thought and still think yoga teaching should be. It was three years of yoga that gave me the encouragement to give up the type of work (computers) I was doing, and do something that I loved and felt was worthwhile dedicating my life to. So, within a week’s time, I bought a one-way ticket back to Lebanon, and decided to become a photographer. That was in 2004, and I'm still here doing what I love. I do a lot of commercial photography for a living, but enjoy artistic and documentary type photography for myself. I also give basic photography workshops and have recently launched a new venture where I take groups of people to different spots around Lebanon and give them a photography workshop style tour.
I think the Arab youth, especially Lebanese, need to start thinking for themselves and stop following what all the dinosaurs of yesterday teach!
A friend offered to start teaching me African percussions, and that’s how it started. We played for about two years, which finally led to us having a percussion group of about 10 people.
Because of my background, I find myself split in many ways. I am neither Arab, Lebanese, African, nor European, although I have all of these cultures in me.
There isn't one place or event that I enjoyed shooting most, but I love traveling and photographing. So far, I've done Nigeria, Syria, Oman, and India. I was quite moved when I went to photograph the last Nakba commemoration in South Lebanon.
Right now I'm using a Canon 5D. Ideally, I would like to have two cameras: the Canon 5D mkII for work and my artwork, and a small professional point-and-shoot, such as a digital Leica, for travel and street shots. For an amateur I would say, start off with a simple DSLR, either Nikon or Canon, but definitely no need to get one of the high-end models. It's pointless.
