Nabil Elderkin

Nabil Elderkin (born February 11, 1982) is an American-born Australian film and music video director and photographer, who is of Iranian and American descent. He is mononymously credited as Nabil in his videos. Elderkin has directed videos for musical artists such as: Dua Lipa, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar,

Early life Elderkin was born in Chicago, Illinois, to an American father and an Iranian mother. His family moved to Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia when he was age 2, and he became a naturalised Australian citizen. He studied at Port Macquarie High School and was a keen sportsman, particularly an avid surfer. His initial experience of photography was through photo shoots of the surfing scene in Australia.

In early 1990s, his parents separated and his mother returned to the United States. Soon Elderkin, just 17 at the time, joined his mother in Chicago. He studied photography and for some years photographed music bands and concerts and Chicago-based DJs.

Career Elderkin's big break came when he befriended the then relatively unknown rap artist Kanye West.

Nabil Elderkin's work has appeared in many platforms including advertising, magazine editorials and covers, artist branding, music videos, books, album covers and photojournalism. His clients list includes, amongst others artists, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Frank Ocean, Nas, Bon Iver, The Black Eyed Peas, K'naan, James Blake, Seal, John Legend. He has worked for record labels Capitol Records, Universal Music, Sony, Warner Bros. print and broadcast media Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vogue, MTV, Rizzoli, as well as fashion personalities like designer Jeremy Scott and model Heidi Klum, the charity Oxfam and manufacturers Coca-Cola, Foot Locker, Nike, Adidas, Vans, Billabong.

Elderkin also photographed Kanye West's biographical book Glow in the Dark documenting the Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark Tour" in 2008. His endeavour into photojournalism in war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo through co-operation with Oxfam worker Claire Lewis resulted in a critically acclaimed exhibition at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2007. He also has directed numerous films for Frank Ocean, such as Pyramids, Novacane and Swim Good.

His feature-length debut is the award-winning documentary film Bouncing Cats about a breakdance workshop for teaching b-boy culture to Ugandan disenfranchised youth. The film was financed by Red Bull through its Red Bull Media House.

In 2019, he completed his first narrative feature Gully starring Amber Heard, Terrance Howard, Jonathan Majors, and Charlie Plummer. Best Documentary Feature Bahamas International Film Festival Best Documentary Feature DocUtah Audience Favorite