Rabat – Haitham Nsais, Issam Chorrib, and El Mehdi Kharbouch have been recognized at Qatar’s Tasweer Awards 2026, organized by Tasweer Photography Festival Qatar.
The annual awards celebrate photographers working across Western Asia and North Africa, with two main categories: the Project Award, which supports photographers developing longer-term photographic projects, and the Single Image Award, which recognises individual photographs.
For the 2026 edition, 30 photographers were selected as winners: 10 received the Project Award and 20 received the Single Image Award.
The winners were announced on August 19, World Photography Day, during a gathering at Fire Station Cinema in Doha.
Morocco was represented in both categories.
Haitham Nsais – ‘Fallen Seagulls’
Haitham Nsais was selected for the Tasweer 2026 Project Award for “Fallen Seagulls.”
He is one of 10 photographers receiving this year’s Project Award, alongside artists from countries including Yemen, Afghanistan, Oman, Lebanon, and Sudan.
The Project Award is designed to help photographers develop, initiate, or complete a photographic project, giving the selected artists resources to take their work further.
Each Project Award recipient receives QAR 30,000 ($8,230), with additional opportunities to showcase their work through Tasweer’s programme.
Issam Chorrib – ‘A Pair of Gloves’
Moroccan photographer Issam Chorrib was also selected for the Project Award, for “A Pair of Gloves.”
His project appears alongside Nsais’s Fallen Seagulls in the 10 winning projects announced for 2026.
The recognition places Chorrib among this year’s photographers receiving support to continue developing a larger body of photographic work, rather than simply being recognised for one completed image.
El Mehdi Kharbouch – ‘Remnants of a Picnic’
The third Moroccan winner, El Mehdi Kharbouch, was selected for the Tasweer Single Image Award for Remnants of a Picnic.
Kharbouch is one of 20 photographers recognised in the category. Unlike the Project Award, the Single Image Award focuses on a single photographic work.
This year’s selected images explore a broad range of subjects, including memory, identity, heritage, place, community and social change.
A Moroccan presence across both categories
The three Moroccan photographers reflect both sides of this year’s Tasweer Awards: Nsais and Chorrib were honored for their photographic projects, while Kharbouch was recognized for a single image.
The 2026 winning works will be presented alongside the previous year’s selections in an exhibition planned for the fourth edition of the Tasweer Photo Festival in 2027.
