Rachid Ouettassi is a self-taught Moroccan photographer born on May 21, 1969, in Tangier, where he continues to live and work. Over a career spanning more than twenty-five years, he has made the streets of Tangier his primary canvas — walking, observing, and waiting with patience until an unexpected moment reveals itself. His work, rendered predominantly in black and white with rigorous framing and confident composition, serves as a living visual archive of Tangier’s iconic characters, everyday scenes, and urban landscapes, capturing a mythic city in the midst of profound social and architectural transformation. His notable bodies of work include Moroccan Trilogy (2020), shown at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid; Tangier, the Turning Point (2014) at the French Institute of Tangier; and Errance (2005), as well as a tribute series to the late writer Mohamed Choukri. A member of the Moroccan Association of Photographic Art from 2006 to 2015, his work has entered major public collections including the Mohamed IV Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat, the Ministry of Culture of Morocco, the Adligat Museum of Serbian Literature in Belgrade, and the Maison de la Francité in Brussels, cementing his place as one of Morocco’s most dedicated and distinguished documentary photographers.
Rachid Ouettassi is a self-taught Moroccan photographer born on May 21, 1969, in Tangier, where he continues to live and work. Over a career spanning more than twenty-five years, he has made the streets of Tangier his primary canvas — walking, observing, and waiting with patience until an unexpected moment reveals itself. His work, rendered predominantly in black and white with rigorous framing and confident composition, serves as a living visual archive of Tangier’s iconic characters, everyday scenes, and urban landscapes, capturing a mythic city in the midst of profound social and architectural transformation. His notable bodies of work include Moroccan Trilogy (2020), shown at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid; Tangier, the Turning Point (2014) at the French Institute of Tangier; and Errance (2005), as well as a tribute series to the late writer Mohamed Choukri. A member of the Moroccan Association of Photographic Art from 2006 to 2015, his work has entered major public collections including the Mohamed IV Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat, the Ministry of Culture of Morocco, the Adligat Museum of Serbian Literature in Belgrade, and the Maison de la Francité in Brussels, cementing his place as one of Morocco’s most dedicated and distinguished documentary photographers.