Bio:
MAryam Touzani was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands (1997), and is currently based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2023. MAryam explores the nature and possibilities of documentary image-making through her photography practice. She rather creates than documents. In practice, she deals with themes such as intercultural identity, the desire to belong, and (dis)placements.
She uses her bicultural background (she is a daughter of Moroccan migrants). Her work employs processes that disrupt image-making by playing with layers or merging aspects of imagery and text. It is about dispatching and bringing it back.
MAryam's work was featured at the Melkweg Expo in 2023. That same year, she earned a spot in FOTODOK's Lighthouse talent program, which supports up-and-coming photographers. Additionally, she has been chosen for the FOAM Talent program for 2024-2025.
Artist statement
I am MAryam, a storyteller.
I am pulled towards the in-betweenness that comes with the experience of being a child of immigrants, particularly one that encompasses not just geographical but also cultural displacement.
I rather create than document.
I construct images to speak about the unsayable and make a fraction of the invisible visible. I use my work as part of an effort to create a space for people with similar backgrounds where there is an honest representation of people. My working method stems from my interest (frustration) in understanding identity and how it shapes a person's place in society. My projects are almost always formed in a photo series with text.
Contact:
Maryamtouzani@icloud.com