Madani, Hashem (1930- )
Hashem Madani was born in Saida, Lebanon from Saudi descent. In 1947 he worked in Jaffa as the assistant to a Jewish photographer. Madani returned to Saida one year later and began his career as an itinerant photographer. "Every morning I would take my camera and walk down the streets of the old city of Saida. Everywhere on my way, people asked me to come in and take portraits of their families, since most of them did not own cameras." Madani founded Studio Shehrazade in 1952.

Photo Jack (1921- )
Born Agop Kuyumjian in Adana, Turkey, Photo Jack spent his early years traveling with family and living in Sudan, Egypt, and Beirut. He moved to Tripoli when he was 18 years old to open a studio in Kobbeh, near the British and French barracks. Most of his clients were soldiers. Photo Jack moved to "Tell Square" in 1945 and introduced the area to "photo surprise," a technique that consisted of photographing pedestrians as they walked through urban centers. Photo Jack left his studio in 1997.

Soussi, Anis el (1910- 1986)
Anis el Soussi was born in Saida. Initially interested in painting, he learned photography from a neighbor and went on to open his own studio in 1934 in el-Kichla Square. Anis worked in Africa for a short stint during the beginning of WWII but returned after one year. Studio Sussi closed down after Anis' death in 1986.

Soussi, Chafic el (1920- )
Chafic el Soussi was also born in Saida. He began working with older brother Anis at the el-Kichla Square studio in 1934. In the late 1950's, Chafic opened a branch of the studio in Sour. He rarely did studio portraits but took event photos and contributed to several newspapers. After Anis' death, Chafic continued to work at the Sour studio until 1992.