The colorful vision of the Belgian-Moroccan photographer stands out sharply from what we are used to seeing on the photographic scene. He combines commitment with aesthetics to capture striking images.
Mous Lamrabat is a self-taught photographer whose work lies at the intersection of aesthetics, personal values, and a commitment to promoting Africa, his continent of origin. His photographs, instantly recognizable by their contrasting tones, capture the eye as much as they provoke thought.
Having initially studied interior architecture, Mous Lamrabat retains from this discipline an affinity for perfect geometric forms, composition, and symmetry. Highly creative, he denounces—in the manner of Martin Parr—consumer society through surreal, ironic, and highly aesthetic stagings. He finds his inspiration in his Moroccan roots, which he blends with unusual references and details: McDonald's and Nike logos, weapons covered in flowers, smiley faces…
The photographs he creates are not subject to the dictates of fashion photography. The models, who are central to his narratives, often, if not always, appear masked or barely recognizable. While dominant standards accustom us to seeing Caucasian figures with beautiful silhouettes, the models in Mous Lamrabat's photographs have a completely different appearance. If models in the fashion industry are to women what a beautiful pen is to a writer, Mous Lamrabat challenges this practice and provokes critical analysis from his audience. Color plays an essential role, allowing him to convey a sense of cultural belonging through the shades he uses. His postcard-like photographs restore the truth about his country of origin, without neglecting beauty. Mous Lamrabat advocates for a "conscious" beauty, political photographs that demand particular attention to aesthetics and composition. The intentions are not left to chance, the accessories appear to be handmade, the styling work is relevant to the message, and supernatural elements are incorporated.
Mous Lamrabat's latest exhibition is titled "Moustalgia." In it, he celebrates fragments of his childhood and well-known heroic figures that adorned his bedroom walls at the time. As the photographer points out, before social media became our personal diaries, our source of inspiration, and our canvas for expression, our way of constructing our identity and belonging to a group materialized on the walls of our childhood bedrooms. Blending landscapes of Senegal and Qatar with references to 1990s pop culture, Lamrabat has created a project imbued with irony and joy, conceived as a true cultural journey. “‘Moustalgia’ is my personal nostalgia. A return to a time when paying bills didn’t exist, when only play, joy, and mischief mattered. I hadn’t realized that it was the best period of my life. The 1990s were my most inspiring years, when being weird or wild seemed normal.” The series invites us to forget our responsibilities and immerse ourselves in the world of childhood imagination, taking the time to admire, for example, its version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It perfectly captures an innocence tinged with warm and vibrant colors that soothes the world's ills.
Mous Lamrabat is not a photographer like any other. To denounce the excesses of consumer society, he exaggerates certain things that we tend to consume in large quantities without always questioning them. His images thus become the vehicles of a creative process uniting political message and cultural representation. Africa, which is at the heart of his narrative, reveals itself as a proud and rich continent, a richness that transcends luxury and ostentation. Mous Lamrabat's photographs are grand frescoes that depict numerous truths without sacrificing the pleasure of beauty.
