Ferhat
Bouda

Ferhat Bouda

biography


Algerian photographer, member of Agence VU’ since 2014, based in Frankfürt (Germany)

Born in 1976 in Kabylia (Algeria), Ferhat Bouda grew up in Bouzeguen (Tizi-Ouzou). In 1994, the “satchel strike” launched by the Berber Cultural Movement (MCB) pushed him to work for the recognition of the Berber identity. Ferhat Bouda then explored different avenues to document it and share its specificities: first theater and music, then cinema, which led him to settle in France in 2000, and finally photography, which proved to be perfectly adapted to his sensitivity and commitment, and for which he decided to study in Paris.

Ferhat Bouda then began a long-term work on Berber culture and nomadic peoples; a photographic investigation that he developed in France and Germany (where he settled in 2005), as well as in Algeria, Morocco, Libya with the Berber rebels, in Tunisia after the fall of Ben Ali, and in the north of Mali with the Tuaregs.

Focusing on looks, attitudes and people, both in their daily lives and in conflict situations, Ferhat Bouda is part of a tradition of documentary photography, and respectfully testifies to complex situations that are often difficult to approach or, too often, hidden under clichés and stereotypes.

Winner of the Pierre and Alexandra Boulat grant in 2016, and of the prize and the photography grant of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 2020, his work is regularly published in the international press, exhibited in Algeria, Germany and France, and presented at festivals of documentary photography.

Series


Chad, climate change, 2021

series | The Kanem region of Chad - and more broadly the southern Sahel - is increasingly affected by drought and the subsequent water stress.

As It Was 2020

On 12 March 2020, I returned to Germany after working on a reportage in Algeria. Two days later, our world seemed to have collapsed, in global quarantine because of the Coronavirus. In most countries, the choice was made for a total cessation of activity and strict lock down of the entire population.

« Tajmaât », Un modèle ancestral de démocratie participative Kabyle, 2020

Tajmâat is a Kabyle term for the public place and its root means to gather. In Kabylia the Tajmâat is a small agora on the scale of a village. Current affairs are managed there, we meet there to resolve conflicts, discuss and take decisions.

Aboard the Outback Train, 2019

From the harsh winters of the south coast to the subtropical heat of the north, from the beautiful neighborhoods of Adelaide to the crocodile breeding grounds of Darwin, a railway line stretches 3,000 kilometers vertically across Australia.

Berbers, Resisting And Defending Their Culture (work in progress), 2019

Unrecognized, dispersed, marginalized, the Berbers are everywhere and have long been threatened in their identity and culture. The Imazighen (plural of Amazigh, "free man"), as they should be called to avoid the colonial term Berber, are imposing themselves as a culture in resistance.

Walking the Way of the Explorers of Adrar (Mauritania), 2019

Historic heart of Mauritania, Adrar is a vast mountainous and desert region, where sand and wind shape the landscape, 450 km northeast of the capital Nouakchott.

Funeral of Hocine Ait Ahmed, 2015

Hocine Aït Ahmed, born in 1925 in Kabylia and died in 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland, was an Algerian politician and historical leader of the Algerian Liberation Front which, after Algeria's independence, embodied the figure of the irreducible opponent to the various powers in place.

Oran, in the Footsteps of Kamel Daoud, 2015

In the city of Oran, the photographer Ferhat Bouda went to meet the Algerian journalist and intellectual Kamel Daoud, who confides in Algeria and the "radiant city". Between the man and the city, an astonishing closeness is woven.

Northern Mali, with the MNLA Soldiers, 2014

Fehrat Bouda accompanied the Tuareg rebels to their fief: the region of Kidal, in North Mali, 1200 kilometers from Bamako.

After the Dzud - Mongolia, 2010

For centuries, the Mongolian people have adapted a pastoral way of life by moving around in search of the best pastures and camps. While they live by and for the animals, the number of nomads has decreased sharply, especially in the last two years.

Chad, climate change, 2021

series | The Kanem region of Chad - and more broadly the southern Sahel - is increasingly affected by drought and the subsequent water stress.

As It Was 2020

On 12 March 2020, I returned to Germany after working on a reportage in Algeria. Two days later, our world seemed to have collapsed, in global quarantine because of the Coronavirus. In most countries, the choice was made for a total cessation of activity and strict lock down of the entire population.

« Tajmaât », Un modèle ancestral de démocratie participative Kabyle, 2020

Tajmâat is a Kabyle term for the public place and its root means to gather. In Kabylia the Tajmâat is a small agora on the scale of a village. Current affairs are managed there, we meet there to resolve conflicts, discuss and take decisions.

Aboard the Outback Train, 2019

From the harsh winters of the south coast to the subtropical heat of the north, from the beautiful neighborhoods of Adelaide to the crocodile breeding grounds of Darwin, a railway line stretches 3,000 kilometers vertically across Australia.

Berbers, Resisting And Defending Their Culture (work in progress), 2019

Unrecognized, dispersed, marginalized, the Berbers are everywhere and have long been threatened in their identity and culture. The Imazighen (plural of Amazigh, "free man"), as they should be called to avoid the colonial term Berber, are imposing themselves as a culture in resistance.

Walking the Way of the Explorers of Adrar (Mauritania), 2019

Historic heart of Mauritania, Adrar is a vast mountainous and desert region, where sand and wind shape the landscape, 450 km northeast of the capital Nouakchott.

Funeral of Hocine Ait Ahmed, 2015

Hocine Aït Ahmed, born in 1925 in Kabylia and died in 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland, was an Algerian politician and historical leader of the Algerian Liberation Front which, after Algeria's independence, embodied the figure of the irreducible opponent to the various powers in place.

Oran, in the Footsteps of Kamel Daoud, 2015

In the city of Oran, the photographer Ferhat Bouda went to meet the Algerian journalist and intellectual Kamel Daoud, who confides in Algeria and the "radiant city". Between the man and the city, an astonishing closeness is woven.

Northern Mali, with the MNLA Soldiers, 2014

Fehrat Bouda accompanied the Tuareg rebels to their fief: the region of Kidal, in North Mali, 1200 kilometers from Bamako.

After the Dzud - Mongolia, 2010

For centuries, the Mongolian people have adapted a pastoral way of life by moving around in search of the best pastures and camps. While they live by and for the animals, the number of nomads has decreased sharply, especially in the last two years.

Chad, climate change, 2021

series | The Kanem region of Chad - and more broadly the southern Sahel - is increasingly affected by drought and the subsequent water stress.

As It Was 2020

On 12 March 2020, I returned to Germany after working on a reportage in Algeria. Two days later, our world seemed to have collapsed, in global quarantine because of the Coronavirus. In most countries, the choice was made for a total cessation of activity and strict lock down of the entire population.

« Tajmaât », Un modèle ancestral de démocratie participative Kabyle, 2020

Tajmâat is a Kabyle term for the public place and its root means to gather. In Kabylia the Tajmâat is a small agora on the scale of a village. Current affairs are managed there, we meet there to resolve conflicts, discuss and take decisions.

Aboard the Outback Train, 2019

From the harsh winters of the south coast to the subtropical heat of the north, from the beautiful neighborhoods of Adelaide to the crocodile breeding grounds of Darwin, a railway line stretches 3,000 kilometers vertically across Australia.

Berbers, Resisting And Defending Their Culture (work in progress), 2019

Unrecognized, dispersed, marginalized, the Berbers are everywhere and have long been threatened in their identity and culture. The Imazighen (plural of Amazigh, "free man"), as they should be called to avoid the colonial term Berber, are imposing themselves as a culture in resistance.

Walking the Way of the Explorers of Adrar (Mauritania), 2019

Historic heart of Mauritania, Adrar is a vast mountainous and desert region, where sand and wind shape the landscape, 450 km northeast of the capital Nouakchott.

Funeral of Hocine Ait Ahmed, 2015

Hocine Aït Ahmed, born in 1925 in Kabylia and died in 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland, was an Algerian politician and historical leader of the Algerian Liberation Front which, after Algeria's independence, embodied the figure of the irreducible opponent to the various powers in place.

Oran, in the Footsteps of Kamel Daoud, 2015

In the city of Oran, the photographer Ferhat Bouda went to meet the Algerian journalist and intellectual Kamel Daoud, who confides in Algeria and the "radiant city". Between the man and the city, an astonishing closeness is woven.

Northern Mali, with the MNLA Soldiers, 2014

Fehrat Bouda accompanied the Tuareg rebels to their fief: the region of Kidal, in North Mali, 1200 kilometers from Bamako.

After the Dzud - Mongolia, 2010

For centuries, the Mongolian people have adapted a pastoral way of life by moving around in search of the best pastures and camps. While they live by and for the animals, the number of nomads has decreased sharply, especially in the last two years.

Interviews


Twist
Arte TV

A show realized by Brigitte Klein and featured by Thilo Jahn, 2022

The program Twist devotes a report to the exhibition of Ferhat Bouda “Photographs and diaries” presented at Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (Germany) from 18 March to 15 May 2022.

Maghreb Express
Médiapart

Interview by Rachida El Azzouzi, 2019

Marginalisés, opprimés, dispersés, les Berbères sont partout menacés.
Mediapart reçoit deux figures de la cause berbère, deux Kabyles : l’anthropologue Tassadit Yacine et le photographe Ferhat Bouda.

Parcours à Fleur de peau
France Inter

Interview by Brigitte Patient, 2018

Ferhat Bouda is born in 1976 in Kabylia, Algeria. He documents Berber culture wherever it is found. To testify and give to see. Portrait of a photographer on the thread of emotion and resistance.
“By documenting the life of the Berbers who populate this generous and nourishing land, where the sweetness of life reigns, my project is part of the approach of a culture in resistance. »

Le réveil culturel
France Culture

Interview by Tewfik Hakem, 2018

Interview in French with the photographer Ferhat Bouda for an exhibition at the Scam gallery in Paris, gathering his work around the Amazighs, the Berbers, and their singular and ancestral culture, which is now disappearing. From his travels in Niger and Morocco, Ferhat Bouda brings back precious and powerful images.

Atelier des médias – Ferhat Bouda, photographe de la berbérité
RFI

Interview by Ziad Maalouf, 2017

His work, extremely sensitive, in black and white, shows simple lives, without any comfort, in the heart of an emaciated mountain. A melancholic poetry emanates from his pictures which, it must be admitted, fall more readily into the category of art photography than into the more informative and less dreamlike category of photojournalism.

1/4 Interview avec Ferhat Bouda
Visa pour l’Image

Interview by Isabelle Garcia, 2017

Ferhat Bouda, photographer at Agence VU’, is exhibited at the Visa pour l’Image 2020 Festival for his subject: “Berbers in Morocco, a culture in resistance”, he is also the winner of the Pierre and Alexandra Boulat 2016 Prize supported by the Scam.

Photographie : aux sources de la culture berbère
TV5 Monde

Directed by Pascale Achard, 2017

On the occasion of his exhibition at the festival Visa pour l’image, in Perpignan in the South-West of France, Ferhat Bouda presents his work on the Berbers of the Maghreb.

Temps de pose – Ferhat Bouda
ARTE

Directed by Serge Challon / Vu de la terre, 2013

For the Arte broadcast Temps de pose, the photographer Ferhat Bouda discusses his documentary work on the Berbers of Mali. Through the commentary of some of his images, he tells the context of shooting and his personal relationship with the Tuaregs.

exhibitions


IMAZIGHEN

Galerie VU’, Paris

From 23 June to 28 July 2023

IMAZIGHEN

Galerie d’art municipale, Corbeil-Essonne

From 31 March to 20 May 2023

Matemale, les pieds sur terre

Matemale, village du Capcir, Pyrénées-Orientales

From June 24 to October 16, 2022

Photographs and Diaries

Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Braubachstraße 30–32, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

From March 18 to May 15, 2022

The Berbers

Galerie du CRI des Lumières, Lunéville, (FRANCE)

From April 25 to June 17, 2019

Latitude : 42.6976, Longitude : 2.8954

Centre international du photojournalisme
, Perpignan (FRANCE)

From May 06 to June 28, 2019

books


Cahier 2003-2016

Filigranes Éditions – Collection Zoème - 2018

Cahier 2003-2016

Filigranes Éditions – Collection Zoème - 2018

Cahier 2003-2016

Filigranes Éditions – Collection Zoème - 2018

awards


Ellen Auerbach Fellowship (Germany)

For his project “the Berbers”

2020

Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award (France)

For his project “the Berbers”

2016

Fellowship of the Hessian Cultural Foundation (Germany)

For his project “the Berbers”

2016