Over the last decade, Mohamed Bourouissa has made it clear that society lies at the centre of his work. For his first two series, both of which were met with immense success, the Algerian photographer sought out two different aspects of society, documenting their everyday life—and giving them agency in the process.
For his first, entitled Peripheral, the then 31-year-old photographed suburb communities over the course of four years. The images that transpired, though digital, are reminiscent of Baroque works of the 1600s in their dramatic essence.
The series naturally earned Bourouissa comparisons, not to photographers of this era, but to painters of another epoch. So, it’s no surprise that for his collaboration with Louis Vuitton, the artist looked to Gustave Courbet’s The Painter’s Studio for inspiration.
The photographer was tapped by Virgil Abloh for his first campaign as the brand’s menswear artistic director. Bourouissa, for his first work with a major fashion house, reimagined the French painter’s 1855 piece with Virgil Abloh at its centre, replacing Courbet’s nude figure, whilst models wearing the collection replaced the elite Parisian figures the original painting had depicted.
The campaign, split into three phases to be released over the next three months, covers three different themes. The first phase, “Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence” was shot by Inez and Vinoodh. Bourouissa shot the second phase, entitled “The Painter’s Studio”, will be released tomorrow. Raimond Wouda, shot the third phase, entitled “School Teens”, which will be released March 22.
