From the streets of Paris to London, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo, Jamal Gzem seeks this connection with strangers, stories and human experiences, through his passion for photography. The photographer born in Paris believes that everyone has a life story that deserves to be reported. Through spontaneous meetings in the street and intimate portraits, he captures these experiences in pictures.
On his Instagram, Jamalmadeit, he shares these meetings with the world. Each, he says, is a reminder that “we are all the same, and yet all unique”, as he entrusted to Yabiladi.
But before becoming the street photographer he is today, Jamal had a completely different course. Raised in the Parisian suburbs by Moroccan parents from the Souss region, he followed, like many others from immigrant families, a predictable path. He studied finance in a business school in Nantes, in Brittany, to trace a stable career. “I obtained my diploma, worked in Zurich for three years, then moved to Sydney in order to continue in finance, in a French bank,” he recalls.
The way to his dream
However, behind the spreadsheets and meetings, another call is made stronger. “I worked in finance, but I have always been passionate about photography and the production of films,” he said. This passion took root for the first time during his years of study in Nantes. “It was the first time that I used a camera, that I had a drone fly. I absolutely loved. I did it every week, ”he recalls.
PH. / Jamal Gzem
In 2020, everything became more concrete when he bought his first camera. From that moment, he started filming and practicing regularly, refining his art. Then he discovered Sydney, his vibrating landscapes and his relaxed lifestyle, fertile terrain for creativity. “It is very different from Paris or Switzerland. There is so much to see and capture. I had all my weekends to travel. ”
Finally, his creative passion took up room. In January 2025, Jamal left her job in finance to return to France, in order to pass Ramadan with the family. “For years, I had thought of leaving finance and starting to make full-time films,” he explains. “This is what I finally did”.
However, the decision was not easy. “In our culture, financial stability is important. It is the biggest mental obstacle, ”he admits. “This is why I think it is important to save first, to be able to devote yourself fully to your passion.”
Talk to strangers
Back in France, Jamal began to build his dream life. He plans to work with companies and content creators, but also to produce clean content. “I like to talk to people, I am a very sociable person,” he says. “But I didn’t want to do photography only in a commercial context. I also wanted to do it for fun, with people in the street ”.
PH. / Jamal Gzem
This is how his street photography project was born. “The day I decided to start, I simply took a train for Paris, market for three hours, and filmed my first episodes for social networks,” he recalls. “The answer was incredible. I received so much love and support from people I didn’t even know. ”
Since then, he has taken the project to cities like London, Madrid and Lisbon, sometimes during Ramadan. He walks four to five hours without food or water, just to meet strangers.
In his videos, Jamal asks people if he can take their portrait, while recording their interaction. What starts as a simple question often becomes something bigger. People open, sharing a struggle, a dream, a message or a painful experience, he said.
“It’s really difficult to approach people and get them to confide, especially when it becomes moving,” he admits. “I have released 161 episodes so far, but may have achieved 300 to 400 portraits. And I received around 2,000 to 3,000 refusals, probably more, ”he adds.
But that, he says, is part of the process. “Having done it so many times helped me not to take the rejection personally. That said, you can’t completely ignore your emotions, especially when someone shares something sad or inspiring, ”he says.
More than an image, a story
One of his most touching meetings was the one with Youssouf, a Parisian street sweeper from Gambia, whose dream is to go to Mecca. “It was personal, pure, something that many kept secret. But when people confide in this way, the photo becomes more than a simple image. It’s a story ”. The video has become viral, triggering a wave of donations via Gofundme which allowed Youssouf to get closer to his dream.
Through these meetings, Jamal has reached a simple conclusion but charged with meaning: “We all have emotions, hearts, stories, but our experiences shape us in very different ways”.
And it is not only his audience that is impacted. “When I publish a story, the person is often overwhelmed with love and support from Unknown,” he said.
PH. Jamal Gzem
If his field work nourishes him, Jamal also directs a photography and film production company, mainly in Sydney, where he is now based. “I work with brands, companies, entrepreneurs and content creators. The demand in videography is strong, and Sydney is a great market. ”
Although living in Australia, Jamal has not lost sight of its roots. At 27, he dreams of exporting his series of portraits to Morocco, and perhaps capturing the stories of people in a stain, the mother tongue of his parents.
By continuing his passion, Jamal learned that “we should all speak to strangers”. “This is something that everyone should do,” he said with conviction.
