Younès Klouche

The ECAL graduate creating fictional narratives with documentary photography

Younès Klouche’s “conceptual, reflexive documentaries” are a mix of fiction and documentary; in his project TRUST Magnum, reportage-style photographs depicting corporate greed are sequenced to create fictional narratives like something out of The Lobster. Influenced by the work of Daniel Shea, he seeks to recreate this mythical tone, with the often faceless, nameless subjects manifesting the dissonance which features throughout his portfolio.

Part of this mystical, jarring vision is due to Younès’s tightly controlled editing process. He plays with the images, cropping them to make viewers feel as if they don’t have all the information, and consequently creates scenes which are at once anonymous and spectacular. To that end, he looks to use banality to “express something much larger”, creating disquieting tableaux that question power and humanity itself.

Having graduated just last year, Younès now works as a photographer for his alma mater, Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, but continues to collaborate with his old classmates: “we don’t have teachers anymore but we [continue to] meet and show what we’re doing”. This approach speaks to the importance of life-long learning, recognising that one’s education shouldn’t end just because a degree does.

This conscientious attitude has served him well, so make sure to check out our Instagram this week as Younès will be taking over with his eerie, contemplative work.

younes.klouche.com