Our tour of the web continues with a look at young photographers in Morocco. A year ago, we saw the first work by Ayoub Saouab on the Moroccan site Tswira. Saouab won its first contest, and we were struck by the fantastic world he created.
After starting at the École Supérieure of the Beaux-arts in Casablanca, Saouab dropped out, unhappy with the level of training, which wasn’t recognized by the state. He got involved with the art world through several personal projects. A Casablanca native, Saouab, 23, is now the artistic director of a small advertising agency.
When asked how he came to photography, Saouab speaks of it as passion first. Initially he wanted to take pictures “on the spot,” to relate lovely moments of the lives of the people he encountered. Then he decided to let each of their worlds inspire him, creating images that went beyond what real life can show.
Saouab realized that everyone, in their own way, is acting and creating their own lives, and he began blending photographs together to create a new representation of the person. He started with a photo session using a Canon 500d, shot from several angles, followed with a sketch on paper, and the use of Photoshop. Sometimes he prints the image and adds paint.
The result is a series of fictionalized photographs, as in Monologue. It doesn’t matter if the subjects are unrecognizable. Saouab adds blurs, overlay and erases parts of the image to create a fantastic vision of a monologue, as if each character were talking to themselves. His work is touching and displays a desire to develop an aesthetic of his own.
Tumblr : http://anyous.tumblr.com
Plateform Tswira : www.tswira.ma/portfolio/exposition-saouab-ayoub
