Douraïd Souissi
Born in 1979, Tunis where he works and lives.
Biography
Douraïd Souissi discovered photography as an art form in the United States where he graduated with a bachelor’s in international finance and a master’s in philosophy. While slowly developing his compositional and technical skills, using mostly black and white film, he got interested in the works of Harry Callahan, Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, which he admired not only for their rigor and simplicity but also for their effective use of the medium’s ability to observe the world more closely and offer radical new ways to reinterpret it.
Moving back to his native Tunisia, he quickly found himself solicited to shoot portraits and promotional assignments allowing him to further perfect his craft, especially the use of light in and outside of the studio, while meeting and collaborating with many of the country’s young artists, designers and other creative talents.
In the past few years, he set out to explore Tunisia’s less traveled and often forgotten regions producing series of images in Kef, Siliana, Kerkennah, Qayrawan and reflecting on the artistic value and potential of visual representation and the landscape tradition from Renaissance paintings to the New Topographics and beyond. Recently, he started working on a series of portraits that depict ordinary Tunisian men looking down with their backs turned to the camera while surrounded by an unusually large and empty dark space.
His work has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions across Tunisia as well as other countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Qr’n, produced in 2015 and exhibited at the Tunis-based Galerie AGorgi and subsequently Talan, attests to his increasing openness and desire to explore and experiment with photography’s infinite possibilities, which extend far beyond its craft.
Selected Works
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions (selection)
2017 : Mohamed, Salem, Omrane, Hbib, Hsouna, Alaa, Farid, Hamza, Mehdi, Oussama, Kamel, A.Gorgi gallery, Tunis.
2014 : Kef Espace, Mille Feuilles, La Marsa, Tunis.
2006 : Drops, El Teatro gallery, Tunis.
Group Exhibitions (selection)
Instants
Photos Arab World Institute, Paris, France – Sept. 2019 to Jan. 2020
Taswir
Arab Contemporary Photography Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil – March to May 2019
Instantanés du [prétendu] Orient
Boghossian Foundation/Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium – Jan. to Feb. 2018
AKAA Also Known As Africa, Contemporary Art & Design Fair
AGorgi gallery, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France – November 2017
Biennial of Photography in the Contemporary Arab World
Arab World Institute, Paris, France – Sept. to Nov. 2017
Festival International des Arts, de la Jeunesse et de la Cité au Nord-Ouest Siliana
Cultural Complex, Siliana, Tunisia – March 2017
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
A.Gorgi gallery, Somerset House, London, UK – October 2016
Festival des Récits de la Mer
International Cultural Center of Hammamet, Tunisia – September 2016
& Palais du Festival, Haouaria, Tunisia – September 2016
3ajel / Le Temps Réel
L’expo Talan, Charguia, Tunisia – May 2016
Views of Tunisia
La Maison de l’Image, Tunis, Tunisia – February 2016
Le Projet Kairouan
Palais Abdelliya, La Marsa, Tunisia – December 2015
The Kairouan Heritage Center, Tunisia – November 2015
Solid’Art
Ghaya Gallery, Sidi Bou Saïd, Tunisia – June 2015
Reminiscences
L’expo Talan, Charguia, Tunisia – May 2015
Inanimés
Galerie AGorgi, Sidi Bou Saïd, Tunisia – March 2015
Sub Sahara
Douz Doc Days Film Festival, Douz, Tunisia – October 2014
Monochrome
Maison de Tunisie, Paris, France – June 2014
Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain
Dakar, Senegal – May 2014
Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie de Ghar el Melh
Tunisia –2007, 2009, 2014
Voies Off
Arles, France – July 2013
Art Fairs with A.Gorgi Gallery:
2023 :