Morocco Through the Lens of Zineb Koutten

“All I could think of in school was YouTube,” she says in an interview with OkayAfrica. “I got tired of the routine, waking up at 8 a.m., then school, then lunch.” It gave her depression, and so she quit school to feel better. “I took a year off and didn’t come back after. I just don’t like to formally educate myself. I like to do it through practice or Youtube or friends.”

Her family wasn’t thrilled. But Koutten, at 17 years old, told herself that she will do her best to make it on YouTube, and she did. “Since I was kid, when I wanted something, I always forced it, even if my family didn’t like it,” she says. “Of course there were a lot of days that I didn’t do anything and felt horrible, but I’m really happy that I quit school.”

She had a friend who worked in fashion and strongly influenced her interest in the industry. “To be honest, it wasn’t really me,” she says. “I was just trying out and discovering.” As part of trying out, she created an Instagram account, making video content with her phone until a friend encouraged her to get that first camera.

“I couldn’t afford a video lens. I bought a prime lens for shooting photos and so I had to shoot photos,” she laughs. “I slowly started telling stories through photography and felt that this was meant to happen.” Indeed, Koutten’s thoughtful interweaving of staged fashion photography and mundane Moroccan everyday life create a beautiful aesthetic informed by her cultural and religious roots.

A recent project she shot in Paris and exhibited in Casablanca, entitled Paris Through Their Lens, highlights 20 hijab-wearing women and their experiences living in France. As a veiled Moroccan woman, Koutten is aware that she represents a group of people who are often overlooked or stereotyped, and wants to upend these prejudices.

“When I meet people, they’re really surprised because I wear my scarf and do what I do. I like that,” she shares. ”I started wearing hijab when I was 14. At first, I did it because I didn’t like my hair.” She pauses, then says, “I didn’t like a lot of things about myself physically and in school I got bullied a lot. My scarf helped me hide myself. The first year was hard, but after that I became one with my hijab and now I can’t really imagine myself without it.”

As a North African woman photographer wearing the hijab, Koutten’s existence is a form of activism. She intentionally shows up to encourage people to not let society stop them from pursuing their dreams. “It happens a lot that society mixes tradition and religion,” she explains. “But it’s tradition and not religion that puts misconceptions in our head. I love my religion and it bothers me when people don’t educate themselves.”

Wearing the veil limited Koutten’s opportunities when trying to pursue a career in modeling, because many clients in Morocco only hire hijabi models to use them as tokens in the game of diversity. In hindsight, she is happy to not have followed that path. “The hijab actually helped me. Without it, I would've just blended in,” she says.

In October 2023, Koutten traveled to Cairo for a photography gig. She usually likes to get to know the models ahead of the shoot. A young woman she met told her about life in Egypt, which is characterized by a wide gap between the poor and the rich and a society structured by class. “I was surprised, because in Morocco this isn’t the case as much,” she says. “I went to Tagamo3 (a wealthy satellite city in the metropolitan area of Cairo) and saw the difference.”

Koutten, who had just finished Paris Through Their Lens, was inspired to travel back to Morocco and begin her new project WLAD CHA3b (“People of the country”). “I wanted to do a project that celebrates the working class. If they’re not here, society will crumble.” She started photographing people in the medina of Casablanca, interviewing them while they were working their various jobs.

“I’ve always struggled talking to strangers, but I now developed this strategy of joking with them,” she shares with a smile. “In Egypt, I met a photographer and was amazed how he spoke with strangers. It’s important to have a connection with the person I want to shoot, so I just say the joke even though it’s not that funny.”

Traveling to Egypt was the first time she visited another Arab country alone. “It really changed my life,” she says. “I always heard about the creative scene in Egypt, how professional the fashion industry is. When I came, every day I had something going on and met someone and talked to locals. Egypt inspires me so much. I’m really honored that the people here accept me.”

Koutten acknowledges her many achievements, but to her, mainstream success is not an end goal. “When you have success you can lose it anytime,” she says. “Success is following my passion and dreams, never stopping, being happy with my family and my religion as well. I’m really living my dream life. Alhamdulillah (praise be to God).”