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«I Come from a Gaze That Crosses» is the title of the upcoming exhibition by Moroccan photographer Mustapha El Basri. His series of portraits will be on display in Rabat from June 19 to July 19 at the Espace Rivages of the Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans Living Abroad. Far from staged scenes, El Basri strives to «capture what escapes», seeking in people’s eyes a memory left unspoken.
Born in Rabat in 1959, Mustapha El Basri has lived between Morocco, France, and the United States for many years. Trained as a sociologist, he discovered photography in California, first as a tool for observation, then as a form of expression. In 2023, he became the first photographer from the Arab world to receive the «International Portrait Photographer» award in Australia’s Awards Book Top 101.
His compassionate gaze runs through all his work. In the streets, he photographs people he encounters by chance, without filters or artifice. His often black-and-white images capture faces we too often forget: an old man in a café, a young girl leaning against a wall, a passerby in the morning light.
«I’m drawn to faces marked by life, those that carry a story, even a silent one. I seek out genuine people who radiate something unique without trying to please. Often, they’re forgotten or overlooked individuals I want to make visible. My gaze pauses where the world rushes by too fast», he shared in an interview with the Hassan II Foundation.
