Ouled El Bahdja

Ouled El Bahdja explores Algerian youth suspended between waiting and the desire to leave. Fragments of daily life, distant gazes, silences, a generation dreaming of elsewhere, yet unable to begin.

Ouled El Bahdja offers an intimate look at Algerian youth caught in a suspended moment, somewhere between waiting and the desire to leave. The project explores the spaces this generation inhabits, both physically and mentally. In a country where the future often feels postponed, many young people live in a kind of in-between state, where everything seems possible yet nothing truly begins. The images focus on fragments of everyday life: stillness, boredom, long afternoons, quiet conversations. A subtle tension runs through the bodies and the gazes. Europe appears in the background, sometimes directly, sometimes only as a suggestion. It becomes a projection, a collective fantasy, an uncertain horizon. Through these restrained moments, the work seeks to make visible the quiet dreams of emancipation that continue to grow despite social and political constraints.

The question of leaving is also deeply personal to me. My father is of Algerian origin, and exile has always been part of my family’s story. Growing up in Switzerland, I often felt positioned between cultures, reduced at times to a simplified identity. As a child, I spent a year in Algeria. That experience shaped my understanding of the country and later allowed me to see my father’s decision to leave in a different light. The project developed around my two cousins, who are themselves considering departure. Through their daily lives, their conversations, and their silences, I wanted to reflect a reality shared by many young people. Despite their education, their motivation, and their abilities, opportunities remain limited. Work is often precarious, prospects uncertain, and the idea of a stable future feels distant. Social media only intensifies this feeling, constantly exposing them to other ways of living that seem accessible yet remain out of reach.

The term Harraga, meaning “those who burn,” refers to migrants who destroy their identity papers in order to cross borders. The word carries a sense of urgency and violence that I did not want to represent directly. Rather than documenting departure or the crossing itself, I chose to focus on what comes before. The waiting, the fatigue, the late-night discussions, the moments when desire collides with reality. Long conversations with my cousins shaped each image. Their vulnerability, doubts, and contradictions became central to the work. Through simple gestures, body language, and distant gazes, the photographs suggest a dreamed-of elsewhere and an uncertain future, suspended between restraint and longing.

Working in Algeria required caution. Photographing young people, speaking about departure, questioning the future, these subjects can generate suspicion. The environment demands discretion and awareness of invisible boundaries. I moved slowly and carefully, taking the time to build trust. I chose to work entirely on film, which allowed me to slow down and remain present. This process created space for listening and for connection. The project emerged gradually from that closeness. It does not claim to speak for an entire generation, but rather to share a fragment of lived experience, shaped in collaboration with those who inhabit it.