Fez — Ahmad Loukili had stopped to watch the sunset when another photographer’s flash unexpectedly became part of his picture.
Returning from Es-Semara to Laayoune with three fellow photographers, he noticed a camel standing apart from its herd. Its stillness against the fading horizon drew his attention. He raised his iPhone 13 Pro.
“As I captured the image, a friend photographing nearby used his flash, which unexpectedly illuminated the foreground, adding texture and depth to the composition,” Loukili told Lifestyle Magazine.
The resulting photograph, “Camel Silhouette,” earned silver in Special Categories / Smartphone Photography at the Budapest International Foto Awards 2026.
A roadside encounter
Loukili and his companions were returning from covering an artistic event celebrating the Green March’s 50th anniversary. The sunset prompted an unplanned stop.
They spotted a camel herder and his companion, approached them, and exchanged a few words. While observing the scene, Loukili noticed the solitary animal.
“There was something powerful about its stillness in the vast emptiness of the desert,” he said.
The photograph still carries the memory of that evening for him. “It reminds me that sometimes the most meaningful images emerge when we stop searching and simply allow ourselves to observe.”.
Giving solitude a visual language
Solitude runs through Loukili’s work. He describes it as a space for reflection and self-discovery, drawing him toward isolated figures and quiet scenes.
Black and white helps him concentrate on their essential elements. Removing color directs attention toward light, contrast, shape, and emotion.
“I believe that what we leave outside the frame can be just as important as what we include,” he said.
Sometimes, he only recognizes the personal meaning of a photograph after taking it. A solitary figure or empty space can reveal feelings he struggled to express in words.
“Through my images, I try to give silence a presence and solitude a visual language.”
The eye before the camera
For Loukili, the phone photograph reflects a belief that equipment alone cannot explain why an image moves someone.
“I have always believed that photography begins with the eye, not the camera,” he said. “Camel Silhouette” required no elaborate setup. Its composition emerged from his attention to the scene, the available light, and an unexpected contribution from a nearby camera.
The photograph has also received bronze in the nonprofessional Domestic Animals category of the reFocus Awards’ 2026 Black & White Photo Contest, which organizers record. The Independent Photographer lists Loukili among its May 2026 Black & White Award finalists.
Those distinctions have strengthened his confidence, but he says his attachment to the picture came first. “Long before any recognition, I already felt a strong connection to it,” Loukili explained.
For him, its value remains in what happens when another person encounters it. “A camera captures light, but it is the photographer who gives that light meaning,” he said.