Ryerson photographer Hanin Mazri has spent the last two years developing his own unique style

By Manus Hopkins

An impromptu photography session was all it took for Hanin Mazri to get hooked. 

He joined a soccer teammate of his, who was already an experienced photographer, to shoot some photos around downtown Toronto just for fun, and at the time had no idea that photography would become one of his main passions.

It was in his first year of university that he discovered his penchant for taking photos, and was quickly able to pick up a variety of different techniques. 

“This photo was taken in my first year of practicing photography,” he said of the photo above. “The technique is called double exposure and at the time it was my favourite thing to do. It’s when you take two photos and merge them into one through photoshop, usually involving a portrait and nature picture.”

Mazri is a third-year journalism student at Ryerson University and made the decision to attend the school in 2017 once he had heard Ryerson’s journalism program involved hands-on work and fast experience building. 

For Mazri, honing his photography skills and developing his artistic eye mostly just came from getting as much practice as possible. He would take every opportunity he could get to take photos, whether it was for class assignments, to try out a new style or just for fun.

“Photography is something that is hard to learn at the start, if you have no idea what the basics are,” he said. “But after doing the research and practice you’ll get it, once you get it, it’s pretty simple. After that it’s about developing your unique style and that comes from constantly doing photography.”

As an avid sports lover and an athlete, Mazri lists sports photography among his favourite styles. With the combination of his sports knowledge and his eye for photography, he’s managed to land two new jobs photographing athletes at work. 

North York Soccer’s youth league has hired Mazri to be a photographer for the team, and SB Nation’s Waking the Red, has employed him to capture the Toronto Football Club (TFC) and Canadian Premier League (CPL).

“This was a photo I took in my first sports photography job,” said Mazri. 

“In sports photography you’re always trying to capture the moment, either from a goal being scored, a player making a decision, a player clapping or laughing, a coach yelling. This photo has both players making a decision.”

Mazri’s versatility with a camera is one of his strongest skils. In addition to professional sports photography, he also dabbles in recreational artistic photography. 

While it may be recreational, Mazri remains passionate about any photography he does. He has plans to travel to Portugal this coming summer and to New Zealand at some point as well to take photos for his personal portfolio. 

Originally, he planned his trip to Portugal just for the sake of travelling, but if there’s ever an opportunity to add photos that use new styles, incorporate new places, and draw from new experiences, he’s keen to take it. 

“The two countries are two of the most beautiful in the world,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of research about places to go, but it will be an adventure for sure.”

Mazri’s Canon T6i camera is nothing he considers too fancy, but he does use a top-of-the-line Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 lens these days. The photo below is one he took for a model photo shoot in November, 2019.

“It demonstrates silhouette, when the subject is dark and the background is usually much brighter,” he said.

Mazri has come a long way in his two-and-a-half years of practicing photography seriously. He has two professional positions, an extensive portfolio and proficiency in multiple styles under his belt, but he’s only confident he will still continue to progress. 

“I don’t know why I enjoy photography so much,” said Mazri. “I just love doing it. Just like playing soccer, it’s a passion of mine. All my worries and problems go away when I’m shooting and I fall into this atmosphere where I forget about everything else, just like when I’m on the field. I’m definitely gonna stick with photography, because when you find something you love doing, you can’t let it go.”

Check out Mazri’s photography on his Instagram profile here.