Seif Kousmate

Seif Kousmate (b. 1988, Essaouira, Morocco), is a self-taught Morocco-based visual storyteller. He developed a visual vocabulary that stands between documentary photography and the poetry of fine art photography. After a career as a Project Manager in the civil engineering sector, he dedicated himself professionally to photography in 2016. Since then, he has been working on different visual projects in Africa around migration, youth, and marginalization. With his latest series, “Waha واحة”, a four-year essay on the oases of North Africa and the changes they are going through, he represents a pivotal moment in his exploration, pushing the conventional limits of storytelling through sensorial narratives, something he envisions to grow further in his next projects.

Kousmate’s photography has been exhibited widely in various festivals and venues, including Foam Museum in Amsterdam, Les Rencontres d’Arles 2022, Contact photography Festival in Toronto, Jaou Photo in Tunisia, San Jose Foto in Uruguay, Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia. It has also been published in international magazines and newspapers such as The New York Times, Newsweek, The Guardian, Financial Times, Le Monde, and El País, among others.

A National Geographic Explorer since 2018, he was selected as a 6×6 Global Talent Program by World Press Photo in 2020 and is a Magnum Foundation and Prince Claus grantee. He was among the Foam Talents of 2022 and lately has received the “Prix de la photographie” from Musee Quai Branly.

He is currently working on an ongoing exploration of masculinity and patriarchy in North Africa through his personal experience.

He co-founded KOZ collective in 2020.