Hasnae El Ouarga, the making of an icon

Hasna El Ouraga’s photographs speak to me.

For me, they convoke the Christian iconography of pain and suffering;

By reclaiming this iconographic tradition, she constructs an allegorical reality.

Beyond, the position of the body, the frame, the gaze, under her photographer’s eye, these women become Madonnas.

As she stipulates herself in her note of intent: “through my shots I try to capture their moods, to explore the depths of their story and personhood, and the metamorphosis of the state of mind.”

Emotion guaranteed, these photos are now but a static image, our unconscious dives in, these photos of women become places in the memory, one can almost feel the pain, the serenity, cries of rage, and hope… the story of each of these Madonnas,

Each one an icon.

Zineb Andress Arraki, Architect & Photographer