Youssef Nabil's powerful cinematic journey

It’s not uncommon for powerful childhood experiences to take root and flower into something meaningful later in life, as the internationally acclaimed Egyptian artist Youssef Nabil knows only too well.

As a boy growing up in Cairo, he spent many happy hours watching the movies made during the golden age of Egyptian cinema, and found himself mesmerised by everything about them, from the cinematic language to the storylines and talent of the glamorous stars on screen.  

“The cinema of this time was truly magical,” he said. “Sure, the films entertained me, but I also found them really inspiring. They opened my eyes to the power of the camera and its ability to keep a moment in time alive through images. I think I knew, even back then, that I wanted more than anything to tell stories through the visual arts.”

The fact that these movies are rooted in yesteryear is significant on more than one level, since, as Nabil explained, drawing on the past is central to his work. “I find the past more inspirational than the present in many ways, and it’s not about nostalgia,” he said. “I believe we need to know where we come from to work out where we are going, and this is something I love exploring in my art.” 

Nabil’s fascination with the past and passionate belief in its relevance to both our present and our future manifests itself in many aspects of his work, including his preference for working in black and white photography. He then painstakingly hand-paints his photos in watercolour, drawing on techniques he learned from some of the last remaining masters of the retouching craft in Egypt. 

“I tried working with colour film, but quickly realised it wasn’t my language or medium,” he explained. “Working with the re-touching artisans, whose craft involved transforming their clients’ black and white portraits and family photos into colour by hand the traditional way, was a real eye-opener. In many ways, it was like stepping back in time.”

Over the years, Nabil has inevitably carved out his own interpretative techniques, with the realism that photography offers given a whimsical element of mystery through the addition of his hand-worked colour on gelatine silver prints. The combination evokes a sense of times gone by, with his subjects, who range from friends and acquaintances to high-profile personalities, presented in glamorous, stylised, yet intimate poses that recall the movie posters and billboards of yesteryear, but still, intriguingly, retain a contemporary aura. 

Nabil’s treatment of the past spans both the broad and the deeply personal, enmeshed with related themes that range from identity and memory to displacement, exile and belonging. 

These and the specific emotions of loneliness and isolation he experienced after moving from Egypt to Paris in 2003 are clearly evident in a series of self-portraits he created around that time. 

While the relocation was planned, taking the form of an artist residency at the Cité internationale des arts, the move to Paris undoubtedly catapulted him out of his comfort zone, as he explained. “Everything was familiar in Egypt - I’d go as far as to say I was in my element,” he said, referring to the success he had already begun to enjoy there. “When I arrived in Paris, I remember having to deal with the feeling of being an outsider. I was unsure about whether or not I’d be accepted.” 

Smiling, he explained that there was also a practical reason for focusing on self-portraiture since, as a newcomer in Paris, he didn’t really know anyone well enough initially to photograph. In these and key other works, Nabil often appears to be suspended in diverse settings, from cinematic scenes to cityscapes and mythical lands, observing his surroundings, reinforcing the challenges that relocating can present or questioning where ‘home’ is.

While these works have a deeply personal narrative, Nabil was keen to also keep them universal – something he did by choosing not to reveal his face. “I felt that this element of anonymity would help people to identify with the art, to realise that these are collective stories, which is important to me,” he said.  

The concept of transience is central to Nabil’s work, brought into focus not only from time spent abroad, but also return visits made to Egypt over the years that evoked complex and, at times, conflicted feelings about his birthplace. “We’re here, visiting the world, but no one knows for how long and we all have to leave at some point,” he mused. “To use the cinematic parallels again, we don’t know when the director will shout ‘cut’ or when the lights in the movie theatre will be switched on and it’s time to leave.”

As he settled into life in Paris and recognition of his talent grew, Nabil’s social and professional circles soon began widening, paving the way for him to work with an impressive list of subjects in his portraiture and figurative work. Time spent in the US further elevated his status, bringing with it several successful worldwide solo exhibitions. The number of high-profile actors, artists and musicians, among others, he was able to photograph continued to grow over the years, with the impressive list of names ranging from Tracey Emin, Marina Abramovic and Robert De Niro to Catherine Deneuve, Omar Sharif, Alicia Keys and Sting.

In time and concurrently, Nabil was also able to realise a long-held personal ambition, which was to make the transition into film. “I had wanted to see my images moving for as long as I can remember, since everything in my head is already cinematic in form,” he admitted. “My process had always been shooting one photo, but suddenly, with film, everything’s moving and there are conversations taking place. Writing, producing and directing films really was magical!”

Nabil’s first cinematic venture, titled ‘You Never Left’, came to fruition in 2010, an 8-minute film featuring Fanny Ardant and Tahar Rahim that explored themes close to his heart through the allegorical narrative of an Egypt that is fast disappearing. The film ran in parallel with a monographic exhibition, which then travelled. It was followed by the high-profile video and solo exhibition ‘I Saved My Belly Dancer’, which starred the actors Salma Hayek and Tahar Rahim. Twelve minutes in length, the film touches on several elements that are critical to Nabil’s oeuvre, from its 1950s’ golden age cinematic feel to his concerns that important art forms so integral to Egypt’s heritage, like belly-dancing, are disappearing. Elements of symbolism and surrealism are also present in the film. Commenting on Hayek’s participation, Nabil described her as a consummate professional. “She insisted on having professional belly-dancing lessons to ensure she could play the part to perfection,” he said, with a smile.

When he began work on his fourth film, ‘The Beautiful Voyage’, Nabil already knew that he wanted the highly esteemed actress Charlotte Rampling to narrate the work. “I’d photographed Charlotte in the past and knew she’d be ideal to play the role and voice the beautiful, poignant words about life’s journey for the video,” he said. ‘The Beautiful Voyage’ was also groundbreaking in that it marked the first time the artist both directed and appeared in front of his camera on film.

Nabil’s work has been exhibited extensively around the world, presented in prestigious spaces that include: the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the Villa Medici in Rome; the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle; the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville; Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City; the Pérez Art Museum (PAMM) in Miami; the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C.; the Centre Pompidou and La Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris; the North Carolina Museum of Art; the Centre de Cultura Contemporánea in Barcelona; the Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen in Berlin; the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) in Barcelona; the Instituto d’Art Modern in Valencia ( IVAM ); the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence; and at the 53rd Venice Biennale. In 2020/2021, Youssef Nabil had his first retrospective exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, titled ‘Once Upon A Dream’. 

Asked what he is currently working on, Nabil explained that he is currently preparing for his first solo show in LA. While it’s still early days, he confirmed that the show is set to take place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2025.