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Hamad Darwish is a
Kuwaiti Radiographer, a photography hobbyist, and an adventure
enthusiast. Born in 1982, Hamad discovered his eagerness for digital
art at the age of 15. After high school, in 2000, Hamad moved to the
United States to obtain his Bachelor's Degree in Radiological
Sciences & Medical Imaging from Oregon Institute of Technology in
Klamath Falls, Oregon.
During his years in OIT, Hamad's eagerness for digital arts was only
getting bigger. While his personal work in computer graphics was
hardly ever shown to anyone but close friends and family, his work
for the International Club in OIT was being seen and admired by many
within the OIT campus. Hamad was then the webmaster of the club and
also in charge of all the visual designs issued by the club which
included tickets to events, posters, program cards, and other
publications. In the 2002-2003 Academic year, Hamad was honored by
the International Club and the OIT society and was given the "Most
Creative Student" award.
Hamad's love for digital art lead him to purchase
in first camera, the Canon S2 IS in September 2004. He used this
point-and-shoot compact mainly to capture images of trips to
different places, and to take pictures of things he wanted to
incorporate into a digital collage. In June 2005, Hamad had to leave
the OIT campus and move to Medford, Oregon where he worked at Rogue
Valley Medical Center.
July 2005 was a turning point for Hamad. After
words of encouragement from close friends, Hamad decided to display
some of his
humble work online, and flickr was his choice. One month of using
this beautiful online service was more than enough to convince Hamad
that a dSRL was what he really needed. After consulting with his
father, a photography enthusiast, Hamad chose to purchase the Canon
20D dSLR in August 2005 and started to shooting like crazy.
Hamad's serious love for outdoor adventures
didn't really start until the purchase of the 20D. Hamad was quickly
converted from the typical city-loving young man to an obsessed
outdoor junky. The camera never left his hands from that point on,
and photography was an "everyday" routine. Positive feedback from
flickr peers pushed Hamad to learn more about photography. Soon
enough, photography books and magazines were all over his house and
in his hands everyday during lunch-time at work. Recognition was
building up for Hamad online, through flickr, and also locally in
the Southern Oregon region. Local camera shops, where Hamad used to
buy his photography gear offered him unlimited free prints in
exchange of displaying his work at their stores and also as
advertisement. A nearby city also used one of his photographs, which
was taken in a famous local park, as the cover for a guide brochure
of the city.
In
October 2005, almost 3 months after purchasing his camera, Hamad
sold his first photograph. One month after, he landed a contract
with the biggest name in the business world. After seeing some of
his work on
flickr, creative directors and lead-designers from the
MSX (Microsoft User Experience) design team approached Hamad in an
attempt to purchase some of his work. After a period of negotiation
and planning, Microsoft commissioned Hamad on a photo-shoot to take
pictures to be used in the desktop wallpaper collection of their
newest, and highly anticipated, operating system Windows Vista.
Hamad has now two photographs shipped on every Windows Vista
installation disk. Since
Vista's official launch in January 2007 Hamad
has been featured in numerous printed and online publications from
many countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Spain,
Russia, and China and has become a well-known photographer in the
online community and worldwide. In March 2007, Hamad landed his
second contract by signing a mutual-benefit agreement with french
photography filter system manufacturer Cokin.
After officially finishing his education in the
United States, Hamad moved back to Kuwait in June 2006. He currently
works as a staff radiographer and a network administrator for the
Kuwaiti Ministry of Health - Chest Diseases Hospital. Following the
same principles that got him started, Hamad continues to practice
photography, but only as a hobby. He has no intentions of turning
professional.
Since he moved back, Hamad has been contracted
for multiple photoshoots. The most note-worthy of which is his work
with the World Health Organization (WHO).
This job involved two of Hamad's closest passions, photography and
healthcare. The job involved traveling to selected countries and
documenting cases of Tuberculosis. Being a photographer, and a
healthcare professional who works in a specialized facility for
chest diseases, Hamad was just the right candidate for the job.
"I love working in the field of health care – it
gives me satisfaction on a personal level. At this point of my life,
I don’t ever want to take that away. Photography to me right now is
just a way to escape reality and the daily routine. I feel a great
deal of happiness when I’m out in the outdoors shooting, because it
is my own time and I get to enjoy it, spend it the way I want. If
photography becomes a career, this beautiful feeling might fade
away. I am still an amateur photographer. The learning curve is
steep and this is only the beginning. I have joined the online
community to learn and share what I have learned with others" - Hamad Darwish
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