Seif Kousmate (b.1988) is a visual artist born in Essaouira and living in Tangier, Morocco. In 2014, he quit his civil engineering career and bought his first camera at 26. As a self-taught artist, he began his journey into photography by exploring documentary photography. His lens was focused on capturing the diverse manifestations of marginalization in Africa.
His early projects served as a platform for the narratives of Rwandan youth post genocide, formerly enslaved people in Mauritania (Haratins), and Subsaharian migrants in search of a better life in Europe. In Morocco, Seif’s work revolved around Boujloud celebrations and documented the lives in the Atlas Mountains facing climate change. Between 2020 and 2024, he worked on his series “Waha و”and his first monograph, a four-year essay on the oases and the changes they are facing. Seif’s artistic practice has evolved over the past decade, now intersecting with contemporary art and photography. His latest project “Men Vs Fathers” earned him the nomination for the Prix Elysée 2025. This series explores masculinity and fatherhood, pushing the boundaries of photography into the realm of installation artwork and video.
