Ezra Nahmad

My parents are Egyptian; my family is originally from Aleppo, Istanbul, Morocco, and Italy. As for myself, I was born in Israel and grew up there until I was ten. I had a happy childhood. When I was little, I was accustomed to hearing three languages at home. The sea was my daily horizon for a long time and then at ten I left for Paris by boat with my family.

I went to a lycée in Paris in the 19th district. I lived in a sixth floor walk up in Ménilmontant. When I?d do my homework, I?d look out and see all of Paris from my sixth floor vantage point.

Later on, as an adolescent, I was absolutely crazy about the movies. I spent a lot of time in movie theaters; I used to draw and do collages. All of this, of course, was after my baccalaureate. I went back to Israel because my parents no longer wanted to stay in Paris. I lived there for another 5 years and enrolled at the university without much enthusiasm. I became a political activist. But I didn?t feel comfortable and decided to return to Europe. I intended to go to Paris, but I stopped in Italy, in Florence, for ten years. There I studied Art History and began to paint and exhibit my work.

After my Master?s degree (my thesis advisor was an art historian and poet), I began my work as an editor, translator and author of monographs published for major Italian museums.

I still like languages. After this long stay in Italy, I went back to Paris to continue painting and working in journalism as a critic. I have regularly participated in or set up educational projects; I like sharing my experience with amateurs in all kinds of fields.

As of now, I?m photographing and still writing on photography as a critic (I use a pseudonym). I live in Paris and the Loire valley, near Angers.