Why Seif Kousmate Burns His Images of Morocco’s Oases

Moroccan photographer Seif Kousmate (b. 1988) transforms the story of Morocco’s oases through Waha واحة , a four-year, research-driven project that challenges idealized visions and gives voice to local realities.

Instead of romantic “postcard” depictions of oasis life, Kousmate builds close relationships with local communities in places like Tighmert and Akka. He collects poems, drawings, and interviews, listening to people who have lived in harmony with these landscapes for generations. Their stories tell of a deep connection to nature, but also of loss: of shrinking water sources, rising heat, and the growing threat of wildfires.

That’s where the fire comes in. In a striking artistic gesture, Kousmate begins to burn, stain, or even weave his photographs using fire, acid, palm bark and desert soil At first, it feels like destruction. But it is something else entirely: an act of truth-telling. The damage on the surface of each print reflects the damage happening on the ground. They serve as metaphors for climate change, drought, wildfires, and human impact on these ecosystems. The damaged surfaces feel urgent: the burning edges, etching textures, weaving fragments, mirror the fragility and degradation of the ecosystems themselves.

Still, Waha is not about despair. It is about attention. About seeing the oases not as exotic backdrops, but as vital ecosystems and homes, now under threat. Through his process, Kousmate blurs the line between photography and sculpture, between documentation and transformation. The image, the material, and the story become one.

Seif Kousmate is part of a new generation of Moroccan artists using their work to question, to reflect, and to remember. He has been named a National Geographic Explorer, a Foam Talent, and a World Press Photo Global Talent. His work has appeared in international exhibitions and publications, but it always begins in the field, in the dust, with a conversation.