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Urban street photographer Hajjaj takes European stereotypes of the North African world and turns them into a visual celebration in what he calls souk with a twist. His photographs are then completed with Moroccan product placement: recycled bike tyres, tins of food or matchboxes found from the markets of Morocco are then placed around the image, framing the work in the unique Hassan Hajjaj style. Each relief style frame is individually made by the artist, each one referencing the co-existence of the new and the old.
By recycling, re-appropriating and re-empowering Western stereotypes of North Africa, Hassan Hajjaj has come up with a powerful and celebratory aesthetic that is very much like a visual hip-hop: he does not combine Africa and the West, rather, he speaks the voice of a generation that can no longer tell the difference.
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Hassan Hajjaj, Amina Annabi, 2000, Digital type C photographs, wood, plastic Arabic alphabet letters, 87 x 62 cm |
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