Cross-border Arts & Culture Environment Fashion Lifestyle Photography Urban 1 Smile Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery by Jennifer MacKenzie 2 hours ago Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Photo Credit: Hassan Hajjaj with Taymour Grahne Gallery Which of these phrases doesn’t go with the others: veiled women , working moms , or biker divas? If you picked the third, one look at ‘Kesh Angels shows that the choice is false: the women it portrays are all of the above. Now on display at Taymour Grahne Gallery in New York, the latest installation by Moroccan photographer Hassan Hajjaj is a tribute to the “strength, swagger, and freedom” of Marrakesh’s female bikers.
These angels, though, are down to earth. They’re not supermodels, they’re Hajjaj’s friends , and the bikes they pose on are mostly their own. But in their own way they are superwomen : they speak four or five languages, work eight or ten hour days , and commute–like nearly everybody–on motorbikes.
Yes, these women are veiled—in sassy polka dots and witty prints , including knock-off Louis Vuitton—plus smug Lolita-style sunglasses. Hajjaj fashioned the outfits himself , and framed the portrait in brightly painted tire treads and rows of homely cans and tins, as a tongue-in-cheek celebration of locality in a global mix. The hybrid fusion is a signature of Hajjaj’s work, but it’s also a playful rebuttal to a fashion shoot he once attended in which everything was imported from the west , and Morocco itself “was simply the backdrop”, he recalls.
So in this piece, he says, “I want to show something particular to Marrakesh , and that even though we have different cultures and religions, we share a lot in common as people.” For more info – ‘Kesh Angels page ||||| 1 I Like It!
