Ismail Zaidy is a self-taught Moroccan photographer born in 1997 in Marrakech, where he continues to live and work. A graduate of Cadi Ayyad University with a degree in International Management, he came to photography not through formal training but through a deep personal need for expression — inspired in part by his mother, who was herself a photographer. Beginning in 2017 with nothing more than a Samsung Galaxy S5, he transformed the rooftop of his family home into his primary creative space, which he affectionately named Studio Sa3ada — Arabic for “Studio of Happiness.” His practice is centered on family as both subject and collaborator, with his younger brother and sister frequently appearing as models in compositions that blend pastel colors, traditional Moroccan fabrics, and minimalist abstraction to explore themes of gender equality, unity, love, and cultural identity. His work caught international attention early, earning him the prize for best Moroccan Instagram account at the Maroc Web Awards, and has since been featured in GQ and Vogue Arabia, shown at international art fairs in Paris and London, and displayed on a Times Square billboard in New York. He has also ventured into the NFT space through platforms such as SuperRare, and participated in the Artists for Morocco earthquake relief initiative alongside some of Morocco’s most celebrated artists.
Ismail Zaidy is a self-taught Moroccan photographer born in 1997 in Marrakech, where he continues to live and work. A graduate of Cadi Ayyad University with a degree in International Management, he came to photography not through formal training but through a deep personal need for expression — inspired in part by his mother, who was herself a photographer. Beginning in 2017 with nothing more than a Samsung Galaxy S5, he transformed the rooftop of his family home into his primary creative space, which he affectionately named Studio Sa3ada — Arabic for “Studio of Happiness.” His practice is centered on family as both subject and collaborator, with his younger brother and sister frequently appearing as models in compositions that blend pastel colors, traditional Moroccan fabrics, and minimalist abstraction to explore themes of gender equality, unity, love, and cultural identity. His work caught international attention early, earning him the prize for best Moroccan Instagram account at the Maroc Web Awards, and has since been featured in GQ and Vogue Arabia, shown at international art fairs in Paris and London, and displayed on a Times Square billboard in New York. He has also ventured into the NFT space through platforms such as SuperRare, and participated in the Artists for Morocco earthquake relief initiative alongside some of Morocco’s most celebrated artists.