ZOOM IN WITH SARAH ADDOUH
An artist giving photographs new life through collage and mixed media
For Sarah Addouh, photography captures something that exists, but it does not necessarily reveal everything an image can contain.
The Casablanca-based architect and artist works with her own photographs alongside old family pictures discovered at her grandparents’ house, reconstructing them through pop collage, colour and unexpected combinations. Her practice also extends into embroidery on photography, double exposure, illustration, stop-motion collage and collaborative visual work.
Her architectural background brings structure to this process, while collage provides a space for experimentation. Together, they allow Sarah to move between personal memory and Moroccan popular culture, preserving what makes an image recognisable while imagining what else it could become.
Between photography, collage and architecture
Sarah's practice begins with photography, both images she has made herself and old family photographs discovered at her grandparents' house.
Where photography allows her to capture reality through the people she encounters and places she visits, collage gives her the possibility to reimagine those elements and place them within entirely new situations.
Her work is not limited to one technique. Sarah also explores mixed media through approaches such as embroidery on photographs and stop-motion collage videos.
Architecture forms another part of this visual language. Rather than existing separately from her artistic practice, her architectural training influences how she composes and structures her artworks.
Looking beyond the original photograph
The photographs Sarah chooses often suggest something beyond what is immediately visible.
That additional layer might be an emotion, an older aesthetic or a reference to Moroccan popular culture. Identifying it gives her a point from which to expand the original image.
She introduces new elements and bright colours, completing or emphasising something that she feels the photograph alone does not fully communicate.
The resulting compositions become deliberately quirky and pop-driven, allowing her to explore unexpected aspects of the society around her.
Finding meaning in unexpected combinations
Placing two seemingly unrelated elements together is not simply a visual exercise for Sarah.
A combination begins to work when it creates something new, whether that is a different meaning, a contradiction or a sense of humour.
Her references are grounded in a close relationship with Moroccan popular culture. Walking through the neighbourhoods of Casablanca, observing people, speaking with them and listening to their stories all feed the work. So does her interest in collecting vintage Moroccan objects.
These encounters mean that when an object, symbol or cultural reference enters one of her collages, Sarah does not consider it a decorative addition. Its presence contributes to the story and emerges from something she has experienced or observed.
Bringing architectural thinking into collage
Sarah's architectural background has a direct influence on how she constructs an image.
Before focusing only on individual visual elements, she considers the overall composition, proportions and relationships between different components.
Busy sections are balanced against empty spaces. Patterns and textures, including zellige, can establish rhythm. Each element is considered in relation to the position and function it occupies within the complete image.
This creates an important relationship between her two practices. Architecture provides structure, while collage creates the freedom to experiment with colour, imagery and unexpected combinations.
Letting technique influence the idea
Sarah's process does not always follow a fixed sequence in which the concept arrives first and the technique simply executes it.
She enjoys exploring new media and approaches, choosing techniques according to what a particular project needs to express. But experimentation can also reverse that relationship.
Playing with images, colours or textures can lead her towards an idea she had not initially considered.
The process therefore becomes a continuous exchange between concept and technique, with each capable of influencing the direction of the other.
Giving family memories a new life
Old family photographs carry a different weight within Sarah's practice.
The photographs belonging to her grandparents are both family heritage and her own. Her attachment to them is also connected to listening to the stories behind the images and imagining the lives captured within them.
Transformation therefore does not mean erasing what came before.
Sarah preserves details she considers important, including the vintage aesthetic and analogue film grain that strongly influence her visually. She then introduces elements from the present and pop colours into the composition.
The objective is to give the memory another life while allowing the original emotion of the photograph to remain.
Entering another artist's universe
Collaboration asks Sarah to approach image-making differently.
She enjoys discovering other artists' worlds, and cultural projects often approach her specifically because they recognise her visual style and want to develop something together.
Her first step is therefore to understand the collaborator's universe, their ideas and what they want the project to communicate.
The approach can change according to each collaboration, but certain elements of Sarah's own language remain, particularly collage, colour and unexpected combinations.
The process becomes one of finding a balance between two visual worlds, preserving what makes each distinctive while creating a space in which they can meet.
Photos: Sarah Addouh
Photos: Sarah Addouh