PORTRAITS (circa 1950)
Van Leo was able to make ordinary people into film stars. In his studio in Cairo he sometimes took hours in order to impart an aura of glamour to his subjects. It was not the rendering of reality which was his goal, but the creation of the ultimate illusion. This made Van Leo the most popular photographer in Egypt.Van Leo, born in Turkey in 1921 as Leon Boyadjian, emigrated to Egypt at an early age with his Armenian parents. They settled in Cairo, a cosmopolitan city under British control, with a lively entertainment scene and a large international community.