Achraf Baznani

About

Achraf Baznani is a self-taught Moroccan surrealist photographer and filmmaker born on January 1, 1979, in Marrakesh. He discovered photography by chance at a young age when he received a Kodak Ektra Compact 250 camera as a birthday gift, which sparked a lifelong passion for the medium. Despite having no formal photography education, Baznani became the first artist in the Arab world to publish photo-books based on surreal imagery, including "Through My Lens" and "Inside My Dreams." Baznani's artistic practice combines analog techniques, precise lighting, and digital retouching to create meticulously constructed compositions that explore perception, memory, and the transformation of everyday objects. He is renowned for inserting himself into imaginative worlds, playing with scale and proportion to create dreamlike, whimsical mise-en-scènes. His work has received international acclaim and has been featured in prestigious magazines worldwide including National Geographic, PicsArt, and Amateur Photographer. Beyond photography, Baznani has worked extensively in film and documentary production, creating works such as "Walk" (2006), "The Forgotten" (2007), and "The Immigrant" (2007). His diverse artistic practice reflects a commitment to exploring surrealism as a means to disconnect from reality and reveal the poetic potential within ordinary subjects.

Contemporary surrealism with dreamlike, meticulously constructed compositions featuring optical illusions, miniature self-portraits, and fantastical scenes that challenge perception and explore the tension between the familiar and the impossible