A personal portrait of street life in Casablanca from photographer Yoriyas

Date
27 June 2016

Casablanca-born Yassine Alaoui Ismaili AKA Yoriyas was inspired by his home city for his series Casablanca not the movie. “I did a lot research and I couldn’t find a photobook about the real street life of the city, only things that have a tourist, historic or business perspective of Casablanca,” explains Yoriyas. “That’s why I decided to show my city as I see it everyday all the way from my house in one of the most dangerous areas of Casablanca to the richest areas where I travel for work.” The title of the project references the classic 1942 movie Casablanca and while it’s one of the photographer’s favourite films it’s not a true depiction of his home city. “The movie wasn’t even filmed here but rather a Hollywood studio. Casablanca is a very big city so the film just doesn’t represent the largest city in Morocco.”

Wandering the streets Yoriyas has captured a personal interpretation of the bustling Moroccan hub: “Casablanca is a city of diverse cultures, tradition and modernity, community and individually create moments of contrast and fusion,” says Yoriyas. There’s a mix of everyday occurrences in Morocco like kids playing football, people browsing the markets and working, but what’s really exciting about Yoriyas’ series is the unexpected, one-off snapshots that bring playfulness and humour to the work. A girl flips her hair mirroring a horse’s tail in the foreground in one image and a little hand pokes out the top of a bald man’s head in another, creating a lovely cluster of accidental and human instances. To ground the series, Yoriyas off sets the lighthearted images with more sombre portraits of the city like the ariel shot of the street prayer during Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan. “I want to convey the real street life and situations of Casablanca from the perspective of a Moroccan, who was born, grew up and still lives there.”

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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Yassine Alaoui Ismaili: Casablanca not the movie

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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