Jamal Gzem left behind a finance career to pursue his true passion, street photography and filmmaking, capturing powerful portraits and personal stories from strangers across cities like Paris, London, and Sydney. His work, shared widely online, highlights human connection and emotion, reminding us that «we are all the same, and yet all unique». From the streets of Paris to London, Seoul, Sydney, and Tokyo, Jamal Gzem seeks connection, with strangers, with stories, and with the human experience, through his passion: photography. The Paris-born photographer believes that everyone has a story worth telling. Through spontaneous street encounters and intimate portraits, he captures those stories one click at a time. On his Instagram, Jamalmadeit, he shares these encounters with the world. Each one, he says, is a reminder that «we are all the same, and yet all unique», as he told Yabiladi. But before becoming the street photographer he is today, Jamal was on an entirely different path. Raised in the Parisian suburbs to Moroccan parents from the Souss region, he, like many others from immigrant families, followed a familiar and expected route. He studied finance at a business school in Nantes, Brittany, and built a stable career. «I graduated, worked in Zurich for three years, and then moved to Sydney to continue in finance, in a French bank», he recalls. The path to one's dream Yet, behind the spreadsheets and meetings, a different calling grew louder. «I was working in finance, but I was always passionate about photography and filmmaking», he says. That passion first took root during his student years in Nantes. «That was the first time I used a camera, the first time I flew a drone. I absolutely loved it. I did it every week», he recalled. Ph. / Jamal Gzem In 2020, it all became more concrete when he bought his first camera. From that point, he began filming and practicing regularly, refining his craft. Then came Sydney, its vibrant landscapes and laid-back lifestyle offering fertile ground for creativity. «It's very different from Paris or Switzerland. There's so much to see and capture. I had all my weekends to travel». Eventually, the pull toward his creative passion became impossible to ignore. In January 2025, Jamal quit his job in finance and returned to France to spend Ramadan with his family. «For years, I had been thinking about leaving finance and starting full-time filmmaking», he explains. «That's what I eventually did». Still, it wasn't a decision he took lightly. «In our culture, financial stability is important. That's the biggest mental hurdle», he admits. «That's why I believe it's important to save money first, so you can dedicate yourself fully to your passion». Talking to strangers Back in France, he began building the life he truly wanted. He planned to work with businesses and content creators, but also to create his own content. «I love talking to people, I'm a very social person», he says. «But I didn't want to do photography only in a business context. I also wanted to do it for fun, with people in the streets». Ph. / Jamal Gzem That's how his street photography project was born. «The day I decided to start, I just took a train to Paris, walked around for three hours, and filmed my first episodes for social media», he recalls. «The response was amazing. I received so much love and support from people I didn't even know». Since then, he's taken the project to cities like London, Madrid, and Lisbon, sometimes during Ramadan, walking 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 grows into something bigger. People open up, sharing a struggle, a dream, a message, or a painful experience, he says. Ph. / Jamal Gzem «It's definitely hard to approach people and get them to open up, especially when it gets emotional», he admits. «I've released 161 episodes so far, but I've done maybe 300–400 portraits. And I've received around 2,000–3,000 rejections—probably more», he joked. But that, he says, is part of the journey. «Doing it so many times helped me not take rejection personally», he explains. «That said, you can't shut off your emotions completely, especially when someone shares something sad or inspiring». Not just an image, it's a story One of his most touching encounters was with a street cleaner in Paris named Youssouf, originally from Gambia, whose dream was to go to Mecca. «It was personal, pure, something many people would keep secret. But when people open up like that, the photo becomes more than just an image. It's a story». The video went viral, prompting a wave of donations via GoFundMe that helped Youssouf move closer to fulfilling his dream. Through these encounters, Jamal has come to a simple but powerful conclusion: «We all have emotions, hearts, stories, but our experiences shape us in very different ways». And it's not just his audience that's impacted. «When I post a story, the person often gets flooded with love and support from strangers», he says. Ph. / Jamal Gzem While his street work nourishes his soul, Jamal also runs a photography and filmmaking business, mostly in Sydney, where he's now based. «I work with brands, companies, entrepreneurs, and content creators. There's a strong demand for videography, and Sydney is a great market». Though based in Australia, Jamal hasn't lost sight of his roots. The 27-year-old dreams of bringing his portrait series to Morocco—and perhaps capturing people's stories in Tachelhit, his parents' mother tongue. While pursuing his passion, Jamal learned that «we should all talk to strangers». «It's something everyone should do», he says with conviction.
