Youssef Ismail is a second-generation California native and has been called a renaissance man. His grandfather immigrated to the United States in the late 1800’s from Syria. Born and raised in southern California, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990 after graduating from California State University Northridge Summa Cum Laude to pursue graduate work in mechanical engineering at Stanford University.
In 1996 he graduated with both a masters and doctorate degrees with a specialization in composite materials. Post graduate he designed and analyzed communication satellite structures until 2004. During this time, he also took up studies in the Islamic Sciences with deep interest in Islamic Jurisprudence and Spirituality. He served as the president of Rahima Foundation, a local food bank for eight years while simultaneously volunteering as a certified speaker for the Islamic Speakers Bureau. He also served as the director of the Zaytuna Institute, an Islamic Seminary, in Hayward, California for one year. His photographic endeavor began in 1990 out of a necessity to photograph the new crescent moon in an attempt to quell misguided debates about the start of Islamic lunar months. He has continued to refine his craft and bring a meaningful purpose to his work by coupling his lessons in spirituality to the visual world. His stunning photography is moving as well as captivating and the reflections he writes with each photo leave the heart in awe of the natural world and its Creator.
He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his loving wife and four children where he teaches the basics of Islamic Jurisprudence and Spirituality, continues to photograph the natural world and exhibiting his photographs on a regular basis, as well as teaching photography in workshops to adults and children at various levels.
Youssef is teaching:
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Calypso Imaging, Inc. · 256 Potrero Street · Santa Cruz, California 95060
Tel (831)460-2260 · Fax (831)460-9299 · 800.794.2755
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