Celebrating Moroccan women's strength : Bouabid El Meknassi's «Women in Light» Exhibition in Paris

Premiered at the Paris Book Festival 2025, Women in Light: Committed and Inspiring Women by photographer Bouabid El Meknassi is now being celebrated at the Fondation Maison du Maroc through an exhibition titled Lens Memory. Published by Éditions du CIIRI Paris, this book brings together over a hundred black-and-white portraits of women from the Moroccan diaspora in France.

With a sensitive and unembellished eye, El Meknassi captures life’s fleeting moments, revealing unique journeys: artists, elected officials, athletes, chefs, journalists, as well as a pilot, astronaut, and entrepreneur. These women embody the diversity, quiet strength, and daily commitment of a diaspora often overlooked.

The choice of black and white enhances the emotional depth: smiles, silences, and gazes. «I wanted to show beauty in its truth», confides the photographer, who has been based in France since 1998. A discreet figure in the Parisian cultural scene, he has pursued a demanding body of work since the 1980s, staying true to natural light and the captured moment.

Through Women in Light, Bouabid El Meknassi pays tribute to women in the shadows with a profoundly humanistic gaze. His work is an ode to presence, resilience, and the universal conveyed by each face.

Practical Information

Opening: Saturday, June 17 at 6:30 PM – Conference: 8 PM
Exhibition: Daily, from 10 AM to 6 PM
Location: Fondation Maison du Maroc – 1, boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris

Free entry

Contact: Mohamed Badiche – 01 58 10 33 05 – fondationmaisondumaroc.org