Billel Ouazene: Shaping a Visual Language Anchored in Community

In the subdued tones of his imagery, somewhere between the Parisian night and suburban dawn, 25-year-old Billel Ouazene is redefining what it means to see. Born to a Kabyle mother and Moroccan father, the French photographer and director is part of a new generation of image-makers shaping contemporary visual culture from the inside out. “I fell in love with the image not as something to observe, but to shape from within,” he says.

United by an unerring sensitivity to light and structure, Ouazene’s practice unfolds across photography, design, and direction. He began in industrial design and computer science—disciplines that shaped his sense of systems, interfaces, and form, he explains. That early fascination with how objects and screens guide perception still echoes in his work today. His photographs are cinematic yet restrained, and speak in the language of silence, of emotion suspended between intention and accident.

At 16, Ouazene’s world shifted with the rise of a new Paris fashion scene born on Instagram. “I grew up in the hood and never heard about fashion,” he recalls. “Suddenly, I saw people shaping a new aesthetic language that felt both intimate and radically new. And I wanted to be part of it.” Shooting friends and local figures with his iPhone 5c, he began building a visual vocabulary that was as much about community as composition.

For nearly a decade, Ouazene explored and discarded styles until, as he puts it, he understood that his identity as an image-maker wouldn’t come from a style or an era. “It would come from deeper research, a research of light, composition and, above all, emotion.” That clarity transformed his process. “Everything in my work now centres around light and composition,” he notes. “That’s what allowed me to define a visual language that feels like mine.”

In 2020, Ouazene launched @94ideas, a creative platform grounded in meritocracy. Though currently on pause, its ethos continues to guide his practice. “I’m not trying to change the world,” he admits. “I create first for myself because I love it, because I need it. If I can share that joy, then I’m happy.” More recently, a photo series with FKA twigs and Arca marked a turning point. Set in a Paris nightclub, it distilled his growing mastery of atmosphere and intimacy. “It wasn’t just about shooting artists I admire,” he shares. “It was about creating a visual universe that blends energy, intimacy, and stylisation.” 

Community, through it all, remains central to his work. “My way of contributing is by working with people from here, especially from the Parisian suburbs, because that’s where I’m from,” he reflects. “There’s so much talent, but not enough visibility. That’s how we build a real local scene from the inside out.”

As Ouazene’s creative studio, Protocols, continues to expand into branding, film, and digital direction, he is developing two new photographic series, one exploring masculine beauty and body modification, the other a more personal project shot in El Jadida, Morocco. “The future of the region’s creative scene lies in its radical authenticity—not in trying to fit in.”