Hailing from the fishing town of Larache on the northwest coast of Morocco, photographerHassan Hajjaj was born in 1961 — just five years after the country achieved independence. Throughout the ‘60s, the African Independence Movement swept the continent, restoring a feeling of pride to the peoples whose lives and land had been unjustly usurped by foreign imperialists. A new generation of photographers including Malick Sidibé, Samuel Fosso, and Sanle Sory chronicled the spirit of celebration that filled the air, creating portraits that captured the first flush of freedom as it spread far and wide.
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Long before digital technology democratized photography, Hajjaj recalled his youth as, “There were hardly any cameras around then. In my town when I was growing up there were three types of photographers. The first was the studio photographer where people would have their family portraits made. I remember going with my Mum and my sisters, wearing our very best. Dad was living in England from the ‘60s, so every couple of years we would go out, do a picture and send it to him. I remember that studio very well with the lighting, the backdrop, the seat. This was a big influence on me.”
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The other photographers worked the streets and the beach, making portraits of people who wanted to preserve these fleeting moments of joy and fun in casual settings. “They would give you a piece of paper, and a few days later you’d get a small print,” Hajjaj says of the itinerant photographers who provided the community with lasting scenes of happiness. These encounters left a memorable impression on Hajjaj that stayed with him throughout his life.
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