Part of ‘Un_Touchable’ Group Exhibition at SomoS Art House (Berlin, Germany)
Investigating identity politics within the contexts of the Diaspora and queerness, the creative work of London-based Algerian visual artist and cultural producer Youcef Hadjazi connects performance and photography.
The presented photographs of Youcef Hadjazi are as much concerned with the process as with the result. The collaboration between artist Hadjazi and Lulu, a transgender female performer, reflects her living experience as a non-cis individual. Compressing Lulu’s narratives into “single-worded” terms, they were transformed into visualizations that perform themselves repeatedly in a “circle” dynamic, revealing the continuity of feelings and outcomes while highlighting the parallelity of the inaccessibility to tangible and emotional intimacies. In the resulting series of intimate photographs, movement and pose are captured in arresting shots, where experience is related and transcended, as Lulu's performs precisely and delicately, energy turned inwards.
We juxtaposed the minimal layout of Clay’s studio with their pottery design using natural lighting and a wide-angle lens.
Clay’s studio had very neutral tones. We wanted to maintain that feel and were careful about placing earthy textures with subdued, complimentary colors.