Out of frustration with Morocco’s strict school system in the 1990s, art teacher Hicham Benohoud began using photography as a teaching method. He set up a darkroom in his classroom to promote hands-on, creative learning and encouraged students to explore their identities through the camera. 

The black-and-white photos Benohoud created with his students show a mix of playfulness, tension and surrealism. Together, they constructed humorous, carefully composed images of sometimes absurd scenes using simple objects and materials. By contrasting the dull classroom setting with such inventive visuals, The Classroom (La Salle de Classe) offers a playful yet revealing look at identity and self-representation in postcolonial Morocco. 

The series was first published in 2001, but this updated version includes new images from his original archive and a more comprehensive overview. This truly inspirational and creative work is still as relevant today--I’d like to think it can even be an inspiration for Foam’s in-house museum teachers.  

LOTTE KLÖSTERS is the manager of both the in-house gallery and the bookshop of Foam Photography Museum. After working with textiles and contemporary art jewellery she has focused on photography for the last ten years. In the role of gallery manager she works with both new talent, curating the First Editions program at Foam, and experienced artists exhibiting in the museum. She organizes masterclasses about buying photography and gives advice about art purchases or expanding an art collection, to both private collectors and corporations. Her personal art collection mainly consists of portraits.