photo poster project | Tokyo to London, a portrait that came full circle by Kareem Berjaoui | ISSUE #237

cizucu hosts the photo poster project in cities around the world.
By simply choosing a city and date, creators can join a physical photo poster exhibition—and meet fellow creatives in real life.

This time, we spoke with London-based photographer Kareem Berjaoui, who joined photo poster project in Tokyo and London.

My name is Kareem Berjaoui and I’m a self-taught photographer based in London. I have a background in Graphic Design, and my work focuses on portraiture and art photography.

With the portrait I exhibited at the first event, I always had a goal to have it shown in Japan—it meant a great deal to my experiences there, and also to the subject in the photo.

I’ve participated in exhibitions before, but this would have been the first time showing my work outside of the UK. To have been given the opportunity to live out this ambition was something I couldn’t miss, and it served as a full-circle moment for me.

The second time gave me more clarity in appreciating certain details in my own work.

I almost decided not to exhibit the second time because of the format of the image I wanted to show. But Mina at cizucu convinced me to try. Simply cropping the image to centralize the main focus made it stand out in a way I had never noticed before.

I now also feel more confident in finding an audience that’s genuinely interested in listening to my story.

Simply said, it’s a great way to showcase the story behind a photo. To be able to speak out loud in front of an audience and help them understand the motivations behind your work is a great experience to have.

Listening to all the other photographers and their stories gives you a better appreciation for the work that goes into it—and meeting them in person makes it even easier to understand their thought processes.

If you’re also given the chance to participate in organizing the day, give it a chance. It’s a great way to understand how it works, and a great way to ease yourself into what the day brings.

Be proud to show your work and to meet like-minded individuals who share the same passion. It’s a great event to build your confidence in a crowd and to really get a chance to connect with an audience.

It may seem daunting at first but the experience alone is worth the fear of not trying. cizucu provides an easy-going experience for those wanting to display their work in public.

There’s no judgement here—just a group of individuals passionate to share the work of others.