Safaa Kagan
Safaa is a Los Angeles based photographer with a mission to dissolve the surface-level barriers presented in humanity. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Safaa immigrated to the United States at a young age to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. In her travels from Morocco to America, she has developed a deep understanding, appreciation, and compassion for all of humanity and those that she meets being from different backgrounds and cultures. Her goal is to present the raw yet real connection we all experience and share.
After completing her degree in Photography, Safaa began creating her current, and on-going body of work. She has traveled the world capturing the true essence of diversity, capturing our emotional interconnectedness. Her extraordinary work has gained recognition from National Geographic and has earned her several awards from different international foundations. Today, Safaa continues photographing around the world with the hope of restoring unity, peace, and commonality amongst the human race. With each portrait, she shares her desire for people all over to stop the separation and labeling and love one another.
The purpose of my work is to reveal the depth and beauty of human connection. I have dedicated the past several years of my life to traveling the world photographing various tribes and communities because I believe in the oneness of humanity. Whether the subject is a mother from Ethiopia or a young Tibetan monk getting initiated in Burma, or a Tuareg Blue man chief in charge of a whole village…We are all human and we all experience love, sadness, joy, family, hardships, etc. Ironically, by sharing images of people who seem very different on the surface, my goal is to show their commonality— the profoundness of the human soul present in each person, regardless of their physical appearances or cultural differences.
Human connection is always present. We simply have to arrive with an open mind and heart. I believe in the power of love and unity in the eyes of my subjects. I see so much division, so much separateness, so much judgment in the world today. I’ve seen how it has impacted me personally as well as how it impacts the world at large. My wish is that my photographs assist in dissolving the surface-level barriers between people, and instead, help us all ‘re-member’ that we truly are all one. When this is our perspective, the world experiences more peace, more harmony, and I think we can all agree that we could use a little more of those things.