Hassan Hajjaj

Hassan Hajjaj is a contemporary photographer, designer, and filmmaker. In perhaps his best known series, ‘Kesh Angels where Hajjaj captures the unique street culture of young female bikers in Marrakesh. He is one of Morocco’s preeminent international artists, sometimes called his native country’s answer to Andy Warhol.

Designed to conflate Western perceptions of Arabic society, Hajjaj uses the language of fashion photography, to produce portraits of figures dressed in colourful North African garb. Often set within frames of consumer products, including Coca-Cola and Louis Vuitton, the artist’s images recontextualise both fine art photography and popular culture. 

Entirely self-taught and influenced by a mix of London’s hip-hop and reggae scenes and his North African heritage, Hajjaj has a diverse practice. He is best known for his photography, a medium he turned to in the late 1980s and in which he draws influence from Pop Art, fashion photography, and the studio work of Malick Sidibe.

“My work started because I wanted to show another side of Moroccan culture, something more than that, and the imagery that they’d understand in the same way,” he has explained. He currently lives and works between Marrakesh, Morocco and London, United Kingdom.