ISMAIL ZAIDY USES PHOTOGRAPHY TO EXPLORE NOTIONS OF SPACE AND FAMILY
Ismail
Zaidy
@L4artiste
Born & raised Marrakech · Morocco · Samsung S5 · GQ · Vogue Arabia · SuperRare
Self-taught photographer who started with a phone and a flea market. Now his abstract, minimalist compositions — built from memory, family, and Moroccan culture — appear in GQ, Vogue Arabia, and on the blockchain.
Just like music, self-taught photographer Ismail Zaidy — @L4artiste — creates compositions that provoke emotions and a zen-like state. The artworks are both mesmerising and explosive.
Your greatest inspirations or influences?
"When I was a kid, I used to live in a modest area in Marrakech where I watched the way the women would wear their fabrics, their haik and djellaba out on the streets. These women are still a huge inspiration for me today, and when I initiate a project I always try to show this side of my culture through my work."
"Starting in 2017, I was mainly capturing my surrounding environments in Morocco. Slowly I was getting comfortable as an artist and growing as a creative family, which I think led me to the minimal, abstract and poetic style of the pictures I capture today."
"I mainly use photography to express my inner point of view on some of the topics that I can't express through words."
Tell us about your creative process.
"My creative process starts from finding ideas, getting props from the flea market and then composing the stage for the photo shoot and directing my accomplices to shoot the final visual. Nonetheless, the process also depends on my siblings, finding time between their school schedules."
"All my pictures are taken on my phone, and the accessibility of this tool is a great opportunity for many young photographers like me. Through its basic settings and low cost — and the challenges and opportunities that come with it — I started to experiment with minimalist and abstract photography."
"Getting props from the flea market and then composing the stage..."
click to find a prop · the process takes timeSamsung Galaxy S5. Basic settings. Low cost. The artist describes his style as abstract and minimalist — and every photograph is taken on this phone. Published in GQ. Vogue Arabia. Dazed.
"My father is from Marrakesh, my mother from a small town called Oud Zem. My siblings I feature often in much of my work. Family is intrinsic to my creativity."
How has this year changed your creativity?
"This year was a hard year for everybody, but it has also taught us how to deal with depression and anxiety — and it's also given us the chance to know the value and meaning of family and love."
"The 23-year-old is now considered in the new generation of creatives showcasing their culture and traditions in a contemporary fashion."
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Read on Antakly Projects ↗Antakly Projects — originally Ninu Nina — has been in conversation with photographers, artists, musicians and creatives from around the world since 2003. Ismail Zaidy is exactly the kind of voice this platform exists to share — a young artist building something extraordinary from almost nothing, with everything.
Explore the photography archive →
And for the personal rants, opinions you didn't ask for, and the occasional existential spiral: follow me on Substack.
Through its basic settings and low cost — everything became possible. ✦