“I would like to show my fellow men, sons of first-generation immigrants like me, that there are things to explore in our past, our history. Let us be proud of ourselves, let us believe in ourselves,” states visual artist Ilyes Griyeb. He’s talking to us about his debut photography book, Morocco, which is a love letter to his family’s roots. “I am the son of Lhoussain Griyeb, a farm worker who landed in the south of France in the 1980s,” he continues. “I grew up in a very religious and hard-working family. Agriculture was our life. I was between two cultures - I was in Morocco at home and in France at school.”

After his baccalaureate Griyeb moved to Paris where he worked to become an art director and then began exploring photography aged 25. This beautiful publication is the result of six years’ work, beginning in 2013 when he was first moved to capture his parents’ rural hometown, Meknès.

“My connection with my country of origin made me want to do photography. It was an obvious choice,” he says. “I naturally started taking pictures of my family members, then their friends, then their neighbours. Little by little, the images were put next to each other and a story was being written.” It’s a far cry from the orientalist imagery that is so replete in the work of Western photographers and which is damaging to the country. “I would simply say that the Moroccan postcard is far from being a reality,” he says. “Worse, it prevents the country from addressing the underlying social and economic problems.”

Being born in France to North African parents presents challenges. The republic is a country that will raise the terror level when Christians are killed, but Muslim women being attacked in front the Eiffel tower in broad daylight does not cause alarm. It’s a country where the fine for covering one’s face with an Islamic veil is higher than that for not wearing a Covid-19 facemask. You can end up carrying the weight of the colonial crimes committed in the Maghreb as well as those committed on French soil – may we never forget the massacre of 1961. And so being French and Moroccan at the same time, and sitting at the centre of those identities, means that you have a unique view of the world. For Griyeb, it’s actually quite straight forward: “I just try to tell Morocco as it is.”

A mix of portraiture and landscape, his work captures everyone from agricultural workers to his unemployed cousin. It has a grace, sincerity and certain stillness that’s hard to pinpoint but it’s ultimate aim is truth telling. “I try to tell my life and the life of those close to me as best as I can, as accurately and sensitively as possible, using the naturalist documentary style,” he explains. “I always prefer portraiture because it brings me closer to people and allows me to draw them but still life and landscape are also important to complete the drawing - they too tell the same story, just using different words.”

Beyond the book, Griyeb’s photography has featured in publications including i-D, AnOther and Numéro and he is also co-founder of the postcultural collective NAAR alongside Mohamed Sqalli. His nuances images will continue to serve as a reminder that it’s who is behind the camera that’s important. “I don't think anyone can tell us better than we can ourselves. And this is true for all communities. Especially in an advertising context where we are clearly in fashion. Far too many Moroccan cities have been plundered of their landscapes and their stories to serve commercial purposes.”

Words Miriam Bouteba
Thanks Sarah Ben Romdane

Visit Ilyes Griyeb

Published on 07/11/2020