About Alex Bego

I am a photographer, filmmaker and actor based in Casablanca, and the founder of Alex Bego Studio. I was born in the Stavropol region in the south of Russia, trained first as an artist and as a linguist, spent years on humanitarian missions, opened my own studio in Moscow in 2004 and have lived in Morocco since 2010. Every part of that road is still in my pictures.

Art school and languages

My first diploma was in the plastic arts: drawing, painting, sculpture and art history at the School of Fine Arts in Zelenokumsk (1986 to 1990). I then studied philology at Pyatigorsk State University and graduated with a master’s degree in French and Russian as foreign languages, linguistics and developmental psychology (1990 to 1996).

Abroad I went on to study humanitarian management, administration and logistics at Bioforce in France (1996 to 1997), English language and global communication at the University of Westminster in London (1997 to 1998), and sustainable building design and the management of hazardous and medical waste in a postgraduate course at De Montfort University (1999).

Humanitarian missions

For years my work was administration and logistics in places of war and disaster: in the Caucasus (Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and South Ossetia), in South Sudan and in Asia. With Médecins Sans Frontières I took part in a surgical mission in Sri Lanka, where I lived in Colombo and learned to read and write Sinhala and Tamil.

Moscow: the studio and Russian Men

Back in Russia I worked with brands such as Mazda and Levi’s, and in 2004 I took the name Alex Bego and opened my first photo and film studio in Moscow. I became known for male portrait photography and for Russian Men, a long project about the modern Russian man that grew into calendars (QGuys 2008, Signature 2011, Russian Men 2013) and an online magazine. In 2011 I founded Coverboy magazine and was its editor-in-chief.

Clients of the Moscow years included Levi’s, Mazda Motor Rus and, through their Russian distributors, Timberland, Desigual, Calvin Klein and MEXX. I shot the editorial “Only The Handsome Will Survive!” for GQ Style Russia (2010), taught master classes in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don and Kyiv, and photographed on location in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives, Dubai, Egypt and Tunisia. In 2012 I was art director of the Street Workout movement and produced its training film on DVD.

Morocco: from Fes to Casablanca

I came to Morocco in 2010 and spent my first three years in Fes, still travelling to Moscow every few months. In 2013 I moved to Casablanca, where the studio works today as a company, Alex Bego SARL. Here I have photographed collections for Moxe Prêt-à-Porter, campaigns and catalogues for Olaf Benz, DIM and Intimissimi, the cover of ULTRA magazine for L’Economiste (2015), a portrait session with Saad Lamjarred and projects for Tupperware Maroc. The full list is on Clients.

Film and video

Film has always been the other half of the studio. I was director of photography on Levi’s events in Moscow in 2008, and in Morocco my studio has made commercials for Spa Nausikaa in Fes, Matinee Group and Poulet El Beldi, as well as corporate and brand films. I also translate and voice archive films about Casablanca into Russian, such as “Salut Casa!” (1952) and the short film “6 and 12” (1968).

On screen

In Morocco I also act. My roles include a Battle Scarred Sergeant in the CBS series Blood & Treasure (2019), a Ruska Roma guard in John Wick: Chapter 3, Parabellum (2019), a ground crew member in Constellation for Apple TV+ (2024) and Igor, alias Houssein, in the Moroccan web series #CODE (2016). I have also worked as a model, including a shoot for Tatler with Ksenia Sobchak. See Acting.

Writer and guide

In 2013 I began writing about Morocco in Russian, and today I publish cultureshock.ma, a magazine about the culture and history of the country. My novel Shadows of Bousbir, a noir set in Casablanca in 1930, is in its final edit. I also guide visitors through the city: private photo walks, art deco tours and excursions, from a day with the chronicler of Casablanca to Arabic calligraphy and zouak painting workshops.

Languages

I work in English, French and Russian, speak basic Arabic, and read and write Sinhala and Tamil.

The studio today

Alex Bego Studio in Casablanca photographs portraits, fashion, products and architecture, produces video from script to final cut, and teaches courses and photo walks. All services are on Services. If you want to work together, write to me.