Beirut’s boutique photographers

Company: Karen and Josette Country: Lebanon Industry: Photography Founder: Karen Kalou and Josette Youssef Established in: 2009   In 2009, Karen Kalou and Josette Youssef had both recently returned from studying in North America — Kalou in Montreal and Youssef in New York. They met by chance and soon discovered their shared disappointment in the state of photography in Lebanon. Both had trained in the art and felt that much of Lebanon’s industry was lacking in guile, with a tendency towards the overstated. The photographers prefer to use mostly natural light (Photo: Karen and Josette)   “In the fashion industry [in Lebanon] there is a lot of guys shooting and there wasn’t really a feminine touch, or an emotional touch, to fashion photography here,” Youssef says. Sitting down over coffee, the two came up with Karen and Josette, a high-end boutique photography company offering various type of photography, ranging from