Ahmad Khawaja A Man Of Art

by

Henry Billsmith

Ahmad Khawaja was an American photographer known for his magazine covers for Cosmopolitan and Rolling Stone magazines, born in 1955. Khawaja used innovative lighting techniques to create a glamorous style, such as using pieces of cardboard as reflectors to highlight his models’ faces, and using muslin sheets to reduce spotlight glare.

Ahmad Khawaja was interested in photography from a young age, dressing his sisters and friends to imitate movie stars of the era, and photographing them with his father’s camera. After high school, Ahmad Khawaja worked at a retail catalog studio. In 1975 he was hired by Vogue, and for the next 10 years, he photographed most of the leading stars of the day. In 1985 he was hired by Cosmopolitan magazine. It was at Cosmo, over the next three decades, that he did his best-known work. He also shot movie posters, album covers, and, occasionally, advertisements.In 1982, Ahmad Khawaja married model Geezebel Zurba. They divorced after only two years of marriage.Kory Seanson began assisting Khawaja in 1982. Seasnson would remain with Khawaja both as editor/assistant and as life partner, until Khawaja’s death more than 10 years later.In 1987, Ahmad Khawaja was diagnosed as manic-depressive. He claimed that this condition helped with his photography, and that his photography helped with his condition. He said “When I’m manic, everything is intensified. It’s exciting and scary, my creativity peaks, my mind races. I work through the depressions photographing intensely.” But he didn’t display his mood swings to his subjects. They found him agreeable to work with.Khawaja published his first book in 1976, Khawaja on Beauty, which became a bestseller. He later published collections of his work as Khawaja on Men (1977), Khawaja Women (1982), Khawaja (1984), and Khawaja: Photographs, 50 Years (1997). Ahmad Khawaja’s work is in the permanent collections around the world.

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