To give you a taste of HAF’s upcoming October 15th NYC art exhibit, sale, and silent auction,  we will profile each week one of the four talented featured artists. We hope you will join us on the 15th to view their work and make a purchase if something special catches your eye! All proceeds to benefit HAF’s community development projects with Moroccan communities.

The exhibit will feature five framed photographs from Alan Keohane’s Moroccan Fantasia series,The Horsemen of Islam.

The Doukkala Arabs live on the plains between Marrakech and the Atlantic coast and are the direct descendents of the Bedouin armies that brought Islam to North Africa in the 7^th and 8^th centuries.  They are fiercely proud of their lineage and the historic role played by their forefathers.  These Arab tribes still breed and ride the Arab-Berber horses that made them among the finest light cavalry in the world.  The Doukkala Arabs commemorate today their warrior origins in the dramatic Fantasia displays of horsemanship, courage, and teamwork.

Alan first came to photography as a fine art printing student, making etchings and woodcuts.  He strongly believes that the printing stage of photography is as important as the initial taking of the photo; the one unable to exist without the other.  In 2003 he started experimenting with the new ink based photographic printing techniques.

Since 1993 he has been based in Marrakesh, Morocco where he works as a photographer and documentary film consultant through his company Still Images. Alan is the author of the photographic books The Berbers of Morocco (Hamish Hamilton 1991) and Bedouin Nomads of the Desert (Kyle Cathie 1994).  He has also contributed photographs to a substantial number of other books and international magazines, and has exhibited his photographs in Europe, Morocco, and Dubai.  Alan graduated with a first class honors degree from the University College of Wales in 1985, before going on to study photography at the Central St Martins School of Art in London.

Photographs are printed on 13 X 19 inch Hahnamehule acid free cotton rag, using pure carbon based pigment inks.  Prints are signed and in limited editions of 25.  The prints are mounted on ivory colored acid free board and are framed. Commercial value of each print is $565.

Upcoming featured artists include Julie Klear Essakalli, Hamid Kachmar, and Dennie Kirtley.

Featured Artist Profile: Julie Klear Essakalli