Vogue Arabia contributor Mous Lamrabat launches a photography book that frames his never-ending search for new avenues of expression.
The world is thirsty. Photo: Mous Lamrabat
ous Lamrabat is in transition mode. He’s spent the summer renovating his new seaside home in Belgium, he’s looking forward to “wifing” his girlfriend in the coming year, and he’s aiming to explore artistic expressions beyond what he is best known for: his photography. It makes sense, then, that he is taking some time to look back, to reflect, and a new book about his career titled Mousganistan (Lannoo) does just that. Out now, it is teeming with his established visual identity drawing from North African references – blue skies, desert spaces, and billowing silhouettes – and images relaying Western consumerism and the fleeting glamour of fashion trends.
Pinky Promises 2021. Photo: Mous Lamrabat
Born in the village of Temsamane in the Moroccan Rif Mountains, Lamrabat later emigrated to Belgium with his parents and a tribe of brothers and sisters. Mousganistan, penned by journalist Lieve van de Velde, recounts his early efforts to belong in Western society following the move, recalling moments like when he attributed the orange-yellow color of his saffron-stained fingertips from home-cooked meals to the Belgian snack of fries and samurai sauce. After closing the door on the prospect of becoming a teacher, Lamrabat enrolled in a design program in Ghent. When presenting his final project centered around impressive ideas for a flagship Maison Margiela store, the rising talent received an instant job offer from one of his jury members. Deeming the opportunity not creative enough, however, the graduate instead immersed himself in photography. His first camera, an analog Nikon, was purchased at a flea market for 40 euros.
Mousganistan
Mous Lamrabat
Lamrabat soon began developing striking fashion shoot schemes for magazines, which Van de Velde describes as foreshadowing his later bodies of work. “They were often conceptual, increasingly international, and slowly becoming too grand for the kind of audiences [these publications] had,” she posits. On his process, Lamrabat says, “Sometimes it’s put together in advance and sometimes it comes on the spot. I like both ways of working. You don’t really have a ‘start and stop’ button when ideas come to you. They come in the most random moments.” These initial thoughts, he adds, are usually shared with his girlfriend so they can be stored away somewhere to be revisited at the right moment. “Since I don’t like shooting that much in Belgium, I wait till we go abroad for a job and then I make sure that we make time to shoot some of these ideas.”
Money Trees 2020. Photo: Mous Lamrabat
The new book is fronted by one of Lamrabat’s most cherished images from his portfolio: a hijab and abaya-adorned woman atop a dark horse. It’s a significant choice given he almost threw the original in the garbage. “Sometimes you photograph an idea and have the handicap of having that image in your head – how it [should] look like. And when it doesn’t come out the way you had in mind, it always feels like a fail. It had so much potential and it didn’t come out as you wanted,” he explains. “I accidentally printed this photo one year after it was shot. Along the way, it became one of my favorites and it became the cover of the book. So good that I don’t even know what the image in my head looked like.”
Louis the clown 2021. Photo: Mous Lamrabat
Over time, the photographer has embraced his unique identity with imagery that is lush with neon hues, pops of emojis, and a dose of surrealism. He says that he hopes people feel “inspired and connected” when viewing his work, which includes the March 2021 anniversary cover of Vogue Arabia and shooting Pharrell Williams for Vogue Man Arabia, and Bernard Arnault for the Financial Times. He has also lensed campaigns for Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent Beauty. It comes as no surprise that in Lamrabat’s 2021 exhibition in Toulouse, France, curator Christian Caujolle referred to the artist as “the colorist of his generation.” He wears the descriptor well.
Kingdom of Lions 2021. Photo: Mous Lamrabat
New Dhelicious. Photo: Mous Lamrabat
Originally published in the September 2024 issue of Vogue Arabia
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