The new trend for family portrates……

NZ artist MARDO EL-NOOR is a jack of many trades. He works as a graphic designer, photographer, typographer, & motion graphics artist. It is through his photographic works, Mardo creates scenes based in real life but viewed through a hyper-real lens where his subjects are immortalized as dramatic characters in their own life and my opinion they are exceptional!!

I stood in front of his pieces wanting to touch them as I couldn’t figure out by looking if they were a painting or a picture!!

Listening to his tales it’s clear that if you have one commissioned is like going on an adventure.  He turns up and transforms your day to day setting into an actual ‘set’.  Once he’s there you get to play round all day with your family or friends in-order for Mardo to capture wonderful moments and transform them into art!

If you prefer solo pics or with mates, he can do those too…

And seeing that he is the only artist in NZ offering such a fantastic, new, energizing product when I sat down with him I had a billion questions…

Mardo, tell us about your background? 

​I’m a German-born, Middle Eastern-raised, of Turkish/Arab heritage who’s been calling NZ home since 2003, & ​I have zero sense of belonging to anywhere other than here. I made many BIG mistakes in life – the two I regret the most are earning a degree in dentistry & releasing five music albums with EMI & Sony Music.

• How was it that your established your current style of work?

​By sheer laziness. I wanted to make short films to tell stories (in order to justify the 10k I spent on my Masters in design & narrative from AUT). Little did I know, it takes huge amount of time & effort to make them. So, I decided to tell stories by using a single frame that may look like freeze-frames from Hollywood-budget, non-existing films. I hated photography, but it was the only way to do it.​

• What is your current style?

​Hyperrealistic, photo-illustrative portraiture. Family-friendly Dave LaChappelle-meets-modern day Normal Rockwell.​

• Who is your target market?

​I capture people as characters in scenes that tell their personal stories. My target is people/entities/businesses who want to tell their stories – i.e. everyone.​

• Is there someone you would absolutely love to have purchase your work?

​Anyone with a big social media following.

• What’s one piece of advice you would say to someone who wanted to be a part of the Auckland Art Week next year?

​Have rich parents.​

• If we wanted to purchase a piece from where can we?

​You can’t. My work is commission-based. I would be weird for someone to have purchased somebody else’s portrait.

• Thankyou for your time today, how can we keep in touch with you and follow your journey?  

​Facebook. I’m the only Mardo in town.​ Link is here

Or my Website.  Link is here

NZ artist MARDO EL-NOOR has been selected to exhibit his work as part of Auckland Art Week.He can be found until the 15th of October in Shop 4D in Ponsonby Central!!  A must see if your in the area.

For all media enquirers regarding NZ artist MARDO EL-NOOR