Diary: Exile

This is a diary of belonging, loneliness, anger, becoming, and meeting myself in places where I have built ties on my own terms.

In Oran, as in Algiers, Casablanca, Marseille, Beirut, Al-Ahsa, and others. I find myself tracing the edges of familiarity in unfamiliar places. As I walk through these cities, I search for moments of recognition, a nod, a greeting, a question: “How are you doing?” or “Where have you been?” Small gestures that tether me to a place, however briefly. 

Photography becomes a bridge between distance and intimacy, between alienation and belonging. Through it, I collect fragments of home, shaping it through encounters with people and landscapes. This is a diary of belonging, loneliness, anger, becoming, and meeting myself in places where I have built ties on my own terms. 

Much like the song Pictures of You by The Cure, these images waver between reality and projection, memory and longing. They blur the boundaries of past and present, yet offer a quiet certainty: home is not fixed, but something I continue to build, again and again, in the most unexpected places.