Saeed Salem

Born 1984 in Jeddah, Salem is of Yemeni decent. Having travelled to Malaysia for further education, he received a diploma in advertising from Limkokwing University in 2006. In 2007, he completed his bachelor degree in advertising from Curtin University, Perth, Australia. Photography was a module taught in his course, however paid little attention at the time. Having worked in several established photography and design studio's, Salem set up a photography studio called 181 Degrees in 2009. His first major stint in the contemporary art world was through Edge of Arabia's We Need to Talk exhibition in Jeddah where Salem began the project Neonland comprising of a series of iconic photographs capturing the essence of the cosmopolitan city of Jeddah.