INTERVIEW
New Beginning in Tangier

In 2019, Davide Edoardo visited the Moroccan port city of Tangier and decided to start his life anew as a photographer. “Rendez-vous à Tanger” tells this new beginning in pictures.

HYPERMADE: Why Tangier? What brought you here – and why is this city the right place for a series like RENDEZ-VOUS À TANGER?

Davide Edoardo: My relationship with Tangier began before I personally knew the city. It was one of those cities I already felt inside, like a calling. In 2019 I finally visited it for the first time, and it felt as if I had always known it, as if I had lived here in a previous life: smells, lights, sounds, sensations … everything felt familiar, as if I had missed it. Since then, I return regularly and stay longer each time. In Tangier I found the courage to change my life and become a photographer, leaving my old career behind. That is why I wanted to dedicate this series to it.

HYPERMADE: Looking at your series, Tangier almost seems to be a protagonist. For you, is it more a backdrop – or a character in its own right?

Davide Edoardo: For me, it is a character in its own right. The series was created as a tribute to the city, so it was natural that it should take the leading role – on equal footing with the two protagonists of the story.

HYPERMADE: The sailor accompanies the series without ever being at the center. For you, is he a symbol, an alter ego – or both?

Davide Edoardo: For me, he is a symbol: He represents all the people who have come to Tangier over time. Some only passing through, others drawn by a deep calling – many of them remained captivated by the magic of the city.

HYPERMADE: Your images could be from the 1970s – or from yesterday. What attracts you to creating this temporal uncertainty?

Davide Edoardo: I believe photography must be timeless. Emotions have no date, and in that sense they become universal. Certainly, the masters I admired as a child influenced my gaze, but also Tangier’s own aesthetic, which for many years remained almost frozen in time.

HYPERMADE: Why did you choose black and white as your expressive language for RENDEZ-VOUS À TANGER?

Davide Edoardo: Black and white leaves more room for imagination, it doesn’t reveal everything immediately and softens the eccentricity of certain colors, which often risk dominating the scene. In a way, for me it is a “more democratic” language.

HYPERMADE: Many of your images play with reflections, shadows or glances outside the frame. Is this a deliberate engagement with the invisible?

Davide Edoardo: Yes, absolutely. Shadows, reflections, fleeting glances are part of the mystery and speak of what an inattentive eye does not see. I consciously chose a cinematic language to suggest inner worlds and latent tensions.

HYPERMADE: How do you manage to show intimacy without exposing it – and maintain distance without seeming alienating?

Davide Edoardo: I didn’t want to show explicit intimacy, but rather evoke moods and atmospheres, especially those connected to the mysterious magic of the night.

HYPERMADE: Since 2019 you have been spending a lot of time in Morocco. How does this personal closeness reflect in the project?

Davide Edoardo: I have dedicated several reports and series to Morocco, published in online magazines, because for me it is like a canvas on which I draw my photographs. Beyond the places, I am fascinated by the beauty and energy of the young people I work with: They have a strength and determination that continually impresses me. Working with them is an honor, and in some way I feel that I give their ambition, even on a small scale, a voice.

HYPERMADE: At the opening, you included music and scent. Why was it important for you to expand perception beyond the visual?

Davide Edoardo: Because memories are not only visual: the memory of smells, for example, is incredibly strong and often equal to the visual. I wanted the audience to perceive, at least in part, the sounds and scents that for me are inseparable from Tangier.

HYPERMADE: Is RENDEZ-VOUS À TANGER for you a closed chapter – or the beginning of a series you would like to continue?

Davide Edoardo: I would say this project can be considered complete. Now I am already focused on new works, although I do not exclude the possibility of using corners of this city again as a stage or backdrop for other projects.

Related

Further impressions of the exhibition can be found in the HYPERMADE article “Rendez-vous à Tanger”.

Davide Edoardo is an Italian photographer based in London. After a long experience in the fashion industry, he decided in 2022 to turn his passion for photography – which has accompanied him since childhood – into a profession. Passionate about black-and-white imagery, his work blends fashion, portraiture and documentary photography. His images tell a story, they are simple yet evocative, immersing the viewer in the scene. Since 2019, he has spent a significant amount of time in Morocco, a place he feels deeply connected to and that continues to shape and inspire his creative vision.