The Classroom
Frustrated by the rigidity of the Moroccan educational system in the 1990s, art teacher Hicham Benohoud began using photography as a pedagogical tool, setting up a makeshift darkroom inside his classroom. Throgh a  collaborative and experimental approach, he encouraged his students to engage with creativity and the construction of identities.

The resulting images created with his students are marked by a constant tension and a sense of alienation, combining absurdity, irony and unease in carefully constructed and subtly disorientating compositions. By connecting the monotony of the classroom environement with a visual exploration of freedom and control, The Classroom develops a playful yet existential critique of postcolonial identity, where seemingly childlike creative gestures intertwine into a more ambiguous aesthetic evoking oppression, violence and isolation.

Hicham Benohoud was born in 1968 in Marrakech, Morocco, where he lives and works. Since his first exhibition in 1998, he has developed an ongoing reflection on Moroccan culture and social structures through surreal and carefully staged compositions, exploring notions of both individual and collective identity. Although photography remains central to his practice, his work also encompasses performance, painting and installation.

His work has been exhibited at numerous international contemporary art institutions and events, including Galerie VU (Paris), the Gwangju Biennale (South Korea), the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (Paris), the Rencontres Photographiques de Bamako (Mali) and Dak’Art Biennale (Dakar).

His works are held in the permanent collections of major international institutions, including Tate Modern in London and Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. In 2025, he received the prestigious Aperture–Paris Photo Photobook Award for The Classroom.