It is not so rare for some people working in the creative industries (at least for those ones who have managed to preserve their integrity and maintain their humility…) to reach a moment in their life when they feel strong and confident enough to help younger generations of talented people.
This is the case with Hassan Hajjaj: the Moroccan photographer and self-taught artist based in London is well-known for his portraits that reinvent early African studio photography and reinterpret the genre through vibrant colours and patterns.
The results are visually striking with the people portrayed standing in front of colourful or intricately patterned backgrounds framed in contrasting textures that create genuine riots of colours, crossovers between traditional portraiture and Pop Art. Hajjaj has recently decided to collaborate with online art lovers community Avant Arte to promote young Moroccan creatives.
Hajjaj picked a picture from his seminal "My Rockstars" series (a tribute to all sorts of eclectic people from around the world who are for the photographer his personal inspirations and rockstars) featuring two Moroccan artists he mentored – Yazid Bezaz (pictured right in Hajjaj's photograph) and Rania Malek (left).
The former is the founder of Somnii Productions, a collective of artists that often collaborates with global brands, and has also assisted Hajjaj on his shoots; Malek is a multi-disciplinary artist working in the fields of design and music and, like Bezaz, has been assisting Hajjaj in his work.
The portrait is a way to introduce these two artists to a wider audience, drawing parallels between his own journey as an artist and the stories of a younger generation of creative minds.
Through it the photographer prompts us to ponder about the importance of being humble enough in our lives to take a step back and help others to emerge as well. As Avant Arte co-founder Christian Luiten states about Hajjaj, "He’s shooting the cover of Vogue and being written about in the New Yorker, but his practice allows enough space to elevate the community of creatives who have grown up loving his work."
A celebration of the nomadic and cross-cultural collectivism the two young artists share with Hajjaj, the portrait "Yazid & Rania" (dated using both Gregorian and Hijri calendars, so 2018/1439) will be available in a limited edition of 50 copies from 10th September as a print mounted in a hand-made white frame surrounded by a polka-dot tablecloth border designed by Hajjaj (you can pre-register your interest in the portrait at this link or email collecting@avantarte.com).
