Ziad Naitaddi

Ziad Naitaddi (b. 1995, Rabat) is a Moroccan artist who lives and works in Rabat.
His passion for visual arts began with cinema, thanks to Fouad, a pirated DVD seller in the Medina of Rabat, who introduced him to a diverse array of films and directors. Over time, he became drawn to the hybrid nature of photography, which offered a compelling way to explore his favorite themes—situated between documentary and fiction. Since 2015, he has primarily worked in black and white, delving into the experimental possibilities of the medium. While he navigates between digital and analog photography, he favors the deliberate slowness of the latter as a way to counteract the relentless proliferation of images in contemporary life.

His practice often extends beyond the act of photographing itself. He revisits archives, collects written and oral testimonies, and even re-engages with his own photographs years after their development. He refers to this approach as “photographic exhumation”—a process that allows him to explore narrative possibilities beyond the camera. This diversified engagement with photography is also a means to propose alternative representations of Morocco and its visual imagination. His connection to the medium is deeply intertwined with his way of life: as he traverses and contemplates landscapes in Morocco and beyond, he translates these experiences into evocative and enigmatic images.

In his recent projects, Naitaddi explores migration and its emotional complexities—distance from one’s homeland, exile, integration, exclusion—viewing these as spaces of layered encounters. He forms close relationships with his subjects, seeking to understand how migration shapes their mental and emotional states over time. Aware that his work is filtered through his own perspective, he also reflects on the construction and evolution of his own identity. For him, photography is inherently collaborative. Through his photographic narratives—at once intimate and political—he examines the challenge of capturing inner emotions in still images.

His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including The Center of Contemporary Photographic Art – Villa Perochon (France), 13th Dakar Biennale (Senegal), Dapper Foundation, Image Festival Amman (Jordan), Angkor Photo Festival (Cambodia), Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (Palestine), Le Cube – independent art room (Morocco), Sharjah Art Foundation (UAE), Galerie 127 (Morocco & France), Encontros Da Imagem (Portugal), Photobastei (Switzerland), Philomena+ Project Room (Austria), Museo Nazionale MAXXI (Italy), Fotogalerie Wien/WUK (Austria), Galeria Dinamo and Carpintarias de São Lázaro (Portugal), among others.

Naitaddi is one of the four authors of Working Men Have No Country, published by Essarter Editions with the support of CNAP – Centre National d’Arts Plastiques (France).

His work has received support from prestigious grants, residencies, and fellowships, including the Residency of Creation at the Center of Contemporary Photographic Art (France), Sustainable Mountain Art (SMArt) Residency Programme (Switzerland), Hors Murs Residency at Le Cube – independent art room (Morocco), The Brazilian Embassy in Morocco, Gerda Henkel Foundation & Humboldt University (Germany), Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council (Switzerland), Philomena+ (Austria), Culture Resource (Lebanon), The French Institute in Morocco, Hangar – Centro de Investigação Artística (Portugal), and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (Morocco), among others.

He has lectured at institutions such as Batalha Centro de Cinema and Escola Superior Artística do Porto (Portugal), University of Limassol (Cyprus), and University Antonine (Lebanon).

In 2017, he won First Prize of the Jury at Essaouira Photographic Nights (Morocco) and received a Special Mention of the Jury for the Prix de la Photographie de la Fondation des Treilles (France). In 2023, his project Fouad Is Not A Criminal: Purge was shortlisted for the Artphilein Foundation Photobook Contest (Switzerland). In both 2022 and 2024, he was nominated for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize (South Africa).

His work has been reviewed by La Nouvelle République, Les Inrockuptibles, Les Echos, Diptyk Magazine, and Camera Austria, among others.

Press
“Les paysages absentés de Ziad Naitaddi” by Olivier Rachet in Diptyk, January 2021