Mous Lamrabat is a Belgian based artist and fashion photographer whose playful aesthetic bridges real and fantastical universes. Where controversy is the word of the day, Mous goes the other way— opting for humour, sensitivity and kindness to make you feel his perspective on topics such immigration, race, and representation. Using everyday objects and elements from his Moroccan roots like henna, traditional garbs and fabrics, that communicate the world he lives in and loves, remixed with pop culture iconography, Mous creates a universe outsiders want to live in. Lamrabat shares some thoughts on how freedom and being himself feeds his creativity.
MATERIA: Let’s start with your origin story? Where did you grow up? How did you get started behind the lens?
MOUS LAMRABAT: I was born in the north of Morocco, a beautiful place called Temsaman. We moved to Belgium when I was quite young. Me and my 8 brothers and sisters grew up in a city in Belgium called Sint-Niklaas. It was not the most fascinating city but me and my siblings made the best of it! Our household was very traditional, inside the house it was like we never left the north of Morocco 🙂
Growing up, I realised that I had some creative thoughts running through me, but I didn’t really know what to do with it and especially, I didn’t know what it actually was. I started studying Interior Design and it was the first time that I walked into an art school. My God. I immediately felt home there and it was like they took me to my homeplanet 🙂 I loved architecture but my favourite thing was to execute ideas, and for architecture you can’t execute 5 ideas in one week. With photography it was possible so I switched to photography. I started to assist the first photographer that would accept me without pay because I was very hungry to learn how it works.
MATERIA: There is a lot of joy, honesty, humor and serious reflection in your work, what other core feelings do you try to bring into your art?
ML: My work really is a translation of who I am a person. I like to laugh, I love comedy, I love the pop art culture, I love kindness, and so on and so on. But I must say, I have a soft heart and I’m very sensitive to the things that are going on in the real world. So within my work I just found a way to send out messages about things that bother me, but I sugarcoat it with humor and softness. I don’t want to shock people because for me it doesn’t feel like the right way to communicate my vision/universe to the outside world. I really feel like people understand the world I created and I even got reactions from people that they want to live in it. My biggest dream is to inspire all these people and kind of create a movement. A movement of people that go back to their roots, dig for the beautiful stories and aesthetic. In a way I think I’m talking mostly about the new generation whose parents were first or second generation immigrants. I don’t know why, but we all kind of shared the same childhoods and the same complexes. But we are the bridges to a lot of worlds and a lot of universes.
MATERIA: There is a lot of cultural iconography in your work from the Western world, McDonalds, Bulls and Lakers jerseys, Wu-Tang Clan, Nike—did you grow up with these references? Or were they discovered throughout your life? What meaning do they have for you?
ML: Well they all have a meaning! These were all things that inspired me a lot as a kid. I used to play basketball, I used to listen to hip-hop, I used to work at McDonald’s— these were all things that have been a part of me growing up. All these things helped me to fit in in the Western world and now it’s funny that they help me in my work to reference the Western world. It’s something people recognise or feel nostalgic about. And I think I kind of use it to steal the attention of the viewer 🙂
MATERIA: What music do you play when you’re shooting?
ML: Hip-hop!! I always was very into hip-hop and it’s just so “bouncy” on set. It always creates a nice vibe and it happens so many times that we are just dancing with the whole team. My goal on set is to create an environment that everybody feels good and feels at home. I hate the question when people ask me “at what time do you think we will finish”. So I always try to create a place where people don’t feel like they are working.
MATERIA: You’re based in Belgium, originally from Morocco, how does living between two worlds feel and impact your perspective?
ML: I am both. I am 100% Moroccan and I’m kind of 100% Belgian. Still both places don’t recognise me as one of them. I don’t really like that feeling but I stopped caring about what they think and I just took both identities and melted them together. The photos really make sense for me. It’s really the place and the life I live. And apparently, I’m not the only one. I have so many people that feel the same way so I think that’s why my work became so popular. I mean, I am Moroccan, I am Belgian. And coming from two backgrounds is always more interesting than coming from just one place no? I travel back and forth and coming home to Morocco makes me always fall in love again with Morocco and the other way around.
MATERIA: I’ve read that ‘covered-up women’ was something that fascinated you as a child because of its mystery. It’s a form and figure that shows up often in your work. What does it mean to you today? What other themes about your childhood or life experience have you worked out in your art?
ML: It was always an obsession of mine because it just creates so much mysterie. Just think about a movie and you can’t see the face of one of the main characters. These are always the most appealing to me. I don’t think I really need to convince people that it’s more mysterious.
A covered woman really became the symbol of Venus for me. The women I loved the most growing up were covered women. So I made it my symbol of a woman. Also it really has bad connotations in these times. They link a hijab with oppression when a muslim woman wears it. But if a person wears it on fashion week it’s considered very fashionable. So I will always keep pushing the veil to normalise it within my work. I don’t know if all of this makes sense, but it really does to me.
MATERIA: Who are some of your creative heroes? Is there a particular artist or movement that you’re inspired by today?
I’m very much in my own bubble. I don’t know that many other artists just because I’m scared that I would be too inspired by their work 🙂
When I started photography, Helmut Newton was my biggest hero if it came to artistic vision. The guy was literally bragging about how he doesn’t know how the camera works. He pushed people to put more time in ideas than in “which camera is the best”. And with this vision I learned a lot from him!
MATERIA: What is the best creative advice you’ve ever been given?
ML: A vision grows, you can’t be inpatient when it comes to creating a vision/universe.
Find your own DNA.
Stay close to who you are.
All these things I share daily with others and I will keep doing it. It’s not short-term advice, but I promise you it will get you to where you need to be.
MATERIA: What have you learned about yourself as a creative person? What rituals or tools do you have to have present to create?
ML: What I learned is that you can be anything or anything you want. You don’t need to create from a mindset that already exists. You can fantasize and create your own world where you can find inspiration from. It doesn’t always need to come from existing things.
To create I don’t really have a ritual, if I feel the freedom then I will do anything in my power to create something amazing. If they take a part of this freedom away I become super insecure and just do what the people ask me to do. So please, trust the creative people you work with and hear them out.
MATERIA: What are you most excited about for the future? For you personally, for your work?
ML: I really don’t know, I’m so curious myself but I don’t want to have any expectations, because it mostly leads to disappointments. I let things come but I have to be honest, sometimes I fantasise about finally shooting big campaigns and finally buying my mother her dream house 🙂
