When I started photography, the narrative was not mine, I was imitating. My education in photography was through European references, not Moroccan. With time I figured out that this was not me and not what I wanted to say. You couldn’t see the neighbourhood, the dirtiness, the real people from Casablanca. I wasn’t happy with the image of Morocco in general. There’s a problem with the way Westerners see Moroccans. You hear Morocco and you think exotic, you think markets in Marrakech and women wearing jalaba scarfs. But I wanted to tell my own story.
For me, when I photograph a girl in a skatepark wearing a scarf and modern jeans, I’m not saying that this is how girls in Morocco should be. I’m just documenting. I don’t want Europeans and Americans to dictate how we should be modern. We have our own story. I’m interested in showing how we are dealing with our traditions, religion and our journey to being modern. It’s interesting to me how the jalaba, the traditional dress is developing, now with new prints, even Gucci prints, and how we are experimenting. Casablanca, for me, is like a laboratory.
Everything happens here first and then it will spread all over Morocco: music, fashion, culture. But I’m just documenting it, I don’t want to influence the expectations of Westerners.
“For me, when I photograph a girl in a skatepark wearing a scarf and modern jeans, I’m not saying that this is how girls in Morocco should be. I’m just documenting. I don’t want Europeans and Americans to dictate how we should be modern. We have our own story.”