From a young age, Maxime CASA had the entrepreneurial spirit. Living in a small city in France, his father, a restaurateur, instilled a work ethic in Maxime that he has never lost.
“I was fifteen years old and I asked my father for petty cash,” recalls Maxime. “And my dad looked at me and said, you want money? You need to work.”
And that’s exactly what Maxime did, working at a small city market as a budding entrepreneur. He had his regular customers, he learned the art of communication, sales, and relationship building. Soon after university, he found himself at a telecommunications job in Paris, where he met his mentor.
“I was really good at what I did,” shares Maxime. He and his now wife were building a life together. Both yearning for adventure, his wife had an opportunity in Dubai that she couldn’t refuse.
“So we decided ok, I’ll come and join,” says Maxime. “I took a leap of faith and left everything to come to Dubai. I got another job from a friend, I was taking photos and videos, most of the time during the night, it was nice, lot of memories.”
Maxime CASA says that it was easy for him to be inspired. “From the day I landed in Dubai I saw things I wanted to photograph or film right away,” he shares. “There’s tourism, beaches, from diving with sharks in an aquarium to skiing in a mall, it was Disneyland for adults! I mean so many options for these amazing moments to be captured.”
And so every weekend, Maxime would go around Dubai and shoot content. He was so passionate about it that he would take time from his own schedule to learn more about the craft, using YouTube as a teacher. For the more artistic elements, he embedded himself with professional art photographers who lived, breathed, and slept photography.
“For the technical, practical stuff, YouTube is amazing, so many people are teaching you how to use any type of camera,” explains Maxime. “And for the more advanced art, I had met these amazing photographers who were obsessed with photography and the beauty they could create – I learned so much from them. Being exposed to those two worlds, I saw the need to merge artistic thinking with practicality.”
As word spread about this new French photographer in town that shot great content, Maxime CASA soon began booking photo and video jobs. His entrepreneurial spirit and sales background, coupled with passion for the craft, quickly created a situation where he was getting more and more work outside of his regular 9-5 job.
“At some point, I had to decide, can I do this [content creation] full-time?” Maxime recalls. “I was having success in my photography so I had to take that chance. I feel like my experience prior to that allowed me this success. With a background of sales, I can sell any product. That coupled with my ability to create content, I can help brands or a person sell anything with that content, and people recognize that.”
His work exemplifies this understanding, showing real and raw moments captured in video or photo that also works for the brand. “It’s technically not enough to just be an artist anymore,” says Maxime. “You have to understand the business as well.”
“The best piece of advice I can give someone is to stay dedicated and be persist,” shares Maxime. “Then, you will create a job where every day doesn’t feel like work.”