If you are passionate about following mood pages on Instagram, those kinds of accounts that are made simply to give you inspiration, time to reflect and a sense of calmness, there is no way you haven’t stumbled upon Ismail Zaidy’s work.
If it doesn’t ring a bell, please, give us the honor of presenting this rising star and rare diamond! Ismail is a self-taught photographer from Morocco who, at only 24, has managed to get the attention of publications like Vogue, GQ Middle East, Scene Arabia and Adobe.
How has he come so far? By fully accepting his potential and using his art as a medium of healing his own emotions and clearing his mind. He only started four years ago, just by capturing his surroundings from his home terrace. As a token to his motivation, it now functions as his own studio, called Studio Sa3ada, translating to The Happiness Studio.
Slowly but surely, he has created his own unique style and perspective: a colorful, yet minimalist and structured poem of feelings, challenging culture and society’s expectations.
Not to mention that, even though he owns a traditional camera, he’s never really used it and takes all his shots with his Samsung Galaxy S5 or Iphone 8 Plus. Talk about raw talent!
As inspiration can burst anytime and anywhere, he often has his brother and sister posing when in lack of models & they both play a huge role in idea development. Family is the foundation on which he has built his art.
He sees photography as a way to shine a light on certain matters, including family estrangement and lack of communication, something he himself has battled with. Ismail sees family as one of life’s greatest gifts and wants to inspire his viewers to embrace talking about their emotions and resentments.
Zaidy has a passion for culture and identity as well, which he manages to portray so clearly, but in a way that doesn’t scream “traditional” at all. A modernistic take on his heritage.
The djellaba, niqab and hijab, traditional Morrocan pieces of clothing, become statements and recurring symbols in his work, including the rosey desert theme. What is magical is that even though most of the photographed subjects have their faces partially or entirely covered, they still carry heavy emotion and teleport you in an intimate setting.
For us it is clear: Ismail has the potential of becoming the artist of his generation and niche creator of visual fluidity, representative to diversity and the uncertainty of changing times.
Photos courtesy of Ismail Zaidy.
To check out more of his breathtaking work, check out @l4artiste.