* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Sherif Elhage was born in St Petersbourg in 1980, and raised in Beirut, by a Russian-Estonian mother and Lebanese father. His formal training is in communications and his professional experience ranges from fashion to advertising. He lists Otto Steinert, M.C. Escher, and Harry Callahan, as primary influences.
His work has no literary or transcendental significance, he declares. The elements of their aesthetic, however, are fundamental to Elhage—the composition of color and original framing, in particular. Using a combination of optical trickery and minimalism, his work contrasts with traditional iconography.
Elhage proudly applies no corrective methods to his photography, for example digital editing. Visitors to his website will note the disclaimer: ‘No digital program has been used to transform these photographers. It’s all straight from the camera.’
