On 15 January 2016, photographer Leila Alaoui was in Burkina Faso working on ‘My Body My Rights’ for Amnesty International when she was caught in the crossfire of a terrorist attack. Three days later, her family was in mourning as the world lost a remarkable talent.

Born to a French mother and Moroccan father in Paris, Alaoui grew up in Marrakesh, studied photography and anthropology at the City University of New York and went on to an impressive career. Although her work has appeared in Vogue and the New York Times, it’s less known in the UK, where the solo show Leila Alaoui: Rite of Passage opens this week at Somerset House in association with 1-54 London Contemporary African Art fair.

Grace Perrett, exhibitions manager at Somerset House, is excited about introducing a new audience to her portraits. “Bringing both documentary and aesthetic sensibilities to her work, Alaoui seems to strike a balance between providing honest and accurate portrayals of people and place and creating moments of real intimacy and poignancy that encourage an understanding of the people she met,” she reflects.

Sitting in between fine art photography and photojournalism, Alaoui turned her lens on real people - often working with migrant communities – with a rare sensitivity and empathy. “In watching footage of Alaoui working, you cannot help but be struck by her warmth and the sense of collaboration she built with her subjects,” adds Perrett. ”She spent a long time with individuals before photographing them. In one interview she talks about buying ingredients in order to cook with the women of one community she visited. There is a feeling of honesty when you view her photographs, which speaks to the trust Alaoui built.”

As other third culture kids will understand, Aloui couldn’t help but be aware of those denied the freedom to cross borders, which she herself enjoyed. It was this that led her to create ‘No Parasa (Entry Denied)’. Shot in black and white, the series is hauntingly atmospheric with an ethereal quality that reflects the aspirations of those people it features. “Leila’s first major work in 2008, it was commissioned by the European Union and it draws a portrait of young Moroccans who dream of a better future on the other side of the Mediterranean,” explains the late artist’s cousin, Yalda Alaoui. “The images are a testament to their realities and their illusions. Leila spent weeks living with them and was therefore able to capture poignant, emotive and powerful images of these women and men.”

Another major body of work, ‘Les Marocains’ (2010-2014), saw the artist depict the rich cultural diversity of her country, so often misrepresented in the West. The result is striking - set against a simple black backdrop, a tapestry of people, all in different styles of dress, offer a glimpse into the real Morocco. “To capture ‘Les Marocains’, Leila travelled around with a mobile studio. Her aim was to create a visual archive of Moroccan traditions and aesthetic universes which tend to disappear under the effects of globalisation,” Yalda Alaoui reveals. “She wanted to counterbalance the common orientalist representation of Moroccans by showing fiercely self-reliant and elegant subjects, while updating the innate pride and dignity of each individual.” The trust that this incredible woman inspired in her subjects is evident in the deep gaze of the faces that stare directly out of their frames.

‘L’Île du Diable (Devil’s Island)’ (2015), is the artist’s unfinished last work. She was beginning to use video and this installation explores both the generation of North Africans who left their homes to work in France’s car industry in the 1960s, as well as their children, grappling with the sometimes conflicting identities of being both Maghrebian and French.

“Leila portrayed important issues of our times with humanity,” her cousin says. “For instance, she captured the precarity of human life in refugee settlements in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region [in her work ‘Natreen (We Wait)’ (2013)]. She took part in documenting postcolonial memory, she challenged the status-quo of women’s rights in Africa, and she portrayed the pride and grace exuded by members of local communities in Morocco. All the topics she worked on are still very much relevant today and the issues they raise urge us all to commit to building a more just and peaceful world.”

This year, the discourse around migration has grown ever more toxic as the Mediterranean Sea weeps with the bodies of people who wanted to make a better life for themselves. In the UK we are cursed with a Home Secretary who has forgotten that there is a legal right to asylum and plans to set up satellite detention centres in Morocco and on Ascension Island. Meanwhile mainstream press seeks to demonise migrants. If such right-wing naysayers could spend just a few moments in this exhibition, as the eyes of defiant Syrian refugees follow them around the room, Alaoui’s images would make them think again. At times difficult to bear, it’s staggeringly necessary work.

“The global issues that Alaoui chose to highlight in her work, including migration, displacement and rapid globalisation remain as current now as they did when she tragically died in 2016,” says Perrett. “At a time when attention is understandably focused on crises at home, lives in other parts of the world can feel particularly distant. However, in a climate of increased separation from others, Alaoui’s vision and intention proves to be extremely relevant. As people face unique and personal struggles, a call for empathy for each other, no matter how different our lives, feels vital.”

Leila Alaoui: Rite of Passage is presented in collaboration with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House, London from 11 October 2020 to 28 February 2021. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance.

As media partner, discover Nataal’s top five artists at 1-54 London here.

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Published on 09/10/2020