Issam Larkat uses photography to tell the stories of real Algerians and the country’s continuing struggle
Raw, authentic and pulling no punches, Issam Larkat’s photography captures everyday Algerians in a bid to highlight some of the realities of the country. Despite being abundantly rich in natural resources, Africa’s largest country is also in the midst of an unemployment crisis so deep that it’s seen some of its young people make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in search of hope. Those aged between 19 and 25 account for 30 percent of the population and the unemployment rate in 2019 stood at 11.4 percent. These are the circumstances that Larket depicts in his series ‘Relizane, Youth Out Of Focus.’ Four years in the making, it has been exhibited at Photoforum Pasquart in Switzerland and LagosPhoto Festival 2020, as well as showing in Berlin, Germany and Ibadan, Nigeria.
Shot in his hometown in the west of the country, the images spotlight the weekly Hirak protests. The peaceful uprising, which began in February 2019, saw marches held every Friday resulting in the now late Abdelaziz Bouteflika being unseated after a 20-year presidency. One of the biggest and most constructive pro-democracy movements to date, also known as The Revolution of Smiles, the Hirak has been remarkable in its ability to effect change without resorting to violence or the destruction of property. Participants even made a concerted effort to clear up any rubbish left behind after protests. “I covered over 50 Fridays worth of protests and during them it was the first time that I felt we owned our streets as opposed to them being controlled by the government’s use of power and force,” says Larkat. “I hope we’ll take the streets again and make them our own, but forever next time.”
Just 24 years old, this visual storyteller initially studied Sociology before rediscovering a love of photography that had lain dormant since he was a child. “I grew up obsessed with cinema and the use of a camera to capture human stories, emotions and movements,” he reflects. “I started taking photography seriously once I realised that I can use it to do my duty to my people and a nation that has always been bleeding. We’ve lived under repression, colonialism, and, later, dictators. Photography is my tool to peacefully fight against social injustice.”
“I use my camera to do my duty to my people”
Although reluctant to be known as an iPhone photographer, this young talent does favour shooting on one because it’s easier to use in a crowd and its ubiquity allows his subjects to feel at ease. “The smartphone is just a tool, the most important thing are the causes that I want to bring to the conversation,” he says. “I don't like it when people see me as a serious photographer or photojournalist because then they start to act or put on a show. I don't want that in my images, I want to capture people in their most natural state.”
This emphasis on being real extends to the development of his artistic identity. For the first three years of his career, Larkat deliberately remained self-taught in order to find his eye organically. This approach has paid dividends and thanks to the strength of his projects, including ‘Algerian Modern Under Development’ and ‘The Subconscious’, he’s been the recipient of scholarships with VII Agency in New York and Screen Arts School as well as participating in the Nikon-NOOR Academy Masterclass. These programmes have helped to strengthened the unflinching focus of his work. “The real change that has occurred is that I’ve become closer to people and the more time I spend in the field, the more that I’m aware of how big my responsibility as a photographer is. Any little mistake could lead to misleading reality, so I guess my focus has grown a lot since I started out.”
Larket admires the work of filmmakers Stanley Kubrick and Bong Joon-ho and photographers Akinbode Akinbiyi and Abdo Shanan, as well that of as his friend, Stefanie Kulisch, of whom he says, “Her exquisite, calm, humanist eye has never stopped reshaping my thoughts on what photography is.” His own cues stem firmly from home. “My inspiration comes from talking and interacting with ordinary people who struggle yet never complain - they are the true heroes of the world,” he reflects. “My two grandfathers fought against French colonisation when they were almost the same age I am now. One died when I was four years old and the other sadly developed mental health issues. Although I never had a relationship with either of them, I’ve built an imaginary connection where I walk in their shoes, imagining their ideologies. I happened to photograph a lot of people that look physically like them.”
For Larket, it’s important not only that as Algerians we tell our own stories but equally that they are not told for us. “We all know that the old days of a white photographer coming to take superficial pictures in our lands are over. The history of visual storytelling is full of it, including with the Magnum Foundation. I’m glad they are finally hiring people of colour, and I’m proud that photographers and artists from misrepresented countries are paving the way. But some of them, including in Algeria, are falling into a trap by making it only for foreign audiences under the misperception that they’ll appreciate it more. What’s the point of making art if we prevent our own people from seeing it or getting their hands on it? In general Africa has always faced the problem of not owning their resources and that extends to the rights of her artists.”