The Wild World
Achraf Baznani is known world-wide as a surrealist photographer that uses everyday scenes to transport viewers to a different world. His art makes you question your own reality, wondering why things are the way they are and what other meanings aspects of our lives can hold. It taps into your unconscious and exploits it to curate a specific idea or belief. Baznani isn’t of the stereotypical variety. He’s incredibly talented at what he does, and completely unique in his ideas. His art is about exploration.
“My Small World” © Achraf Baznani
“Into the abyss” © Achraf Baznani
Perhaps what’s most interesting about Achraf Baznani’s art is his choice in subject. While most surrealist photographers and other artists set forth to challenge people on their conceived ideas about the world, this effect from Baznani’s photography and composites is merely a second benefit. His work mainly features himself. This style is indicative of a man trying to find and understand himself, and he does this by looking through a literal lens. By making himself a subject, he also is able to contribute to political and social commentary by expressing the idea instead of being a staunch example of it. He believes that taking his art seriously, and using himself as a tool to do that, has been instrumental in his success.
BIO
A self-taught artist, Baznani has no formal photography education. He lives and works in Morocco. Starting with only a modest Kodak Ektra 250 camera and some self-teaching, he was the first in the Arab world to publish a surreal photography photo-book, called Through My Lens and published another called Inside My Dreams. Despite being a photographer, Baznani spends most of his time behind a computer screen creating beautiful, surreal composites of multiple images. His concepts derive from experimentation and toying with new ideas. He’s been doing this since he was young, starting first with drawing before receiving the Kodak camera as a birthday gift.