Series description
Since 2021, Anne Mocaër has been photographing a neighbourhood in Casablanca that has been condemned by the Avenue Royale redevelopment project. Declared uninhabitable, the area faces demolition, reportedly displacing more thousands of households in the process. Rather than documenting ruin, the series focuses on those who refuse to disappear before leaving. Through portraits and daily gestures, men and women hold on, ‘between two worlds, two times, two roofs.’ Between walls standing and walls fallen, dignity persists and beauty emerges in light, posture, and a steady gaze.
Tea Time
Young people from the neighbourhood took the photographer to visit abandoned houses whose former inhabitants had left or been rehoused elsewhere. In one of these houses there was a table, a few chairs and an empty teapot where they re-enacted a familiar scene of drinking tea together. This photograph would be impossible to recreate, as the house no longer exists and the young people no longer live there.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
The Boy and the Dog
While walking around the neighbourhood, Mocaër came across a group of young boys with a dog. They asked for some pictures that the photographer later printed for them. They were very proud to pose with the dog, as it gave them a special status in the neighbourhood.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Jaffar
Jaffar is a musician. Like his parents, he was born in the neighbourhood. Although his house was destroyed some time ago, he remains in a makeshift shelter, as he sees this neighbourhood as part of his identity.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Fatima
When Fatima came out of her house, Mocaër took the opportunity to talk to her and ask to take her picture. It wasn’t always easy to get photographs of women, as they spend more time indoors than outdoors. While they often agreed to talk to the photographer, most didn't want to be photographed.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
The Sheet
In one of her most recent visits, the photographer saw that more houses had been demolished. Here, a sheet hangs across the doorway of a house marked for demolition. Used as a fragile barrier, it attempts to protect what remains inside; ‘an improvised gesture that speaks of waiting and vulnerability, and of inhabitants trying to preserve their dignity in a space that is exposed and destined to disappear’.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
The Boy and the Fish
A boy walks through the neighbourhood carrying a tray of fish prepared by his mother, which he is taking to another home to be cooked. Daily routines continue among the make-shift shelters constructed by residents who have lost their homes.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
What Remains
From the rooftops of ruined houses, birds watch over the few remaining inhabitants. The last time the photographer visited this neighbourhood, birds were everywhere, as the streets were filled with rubbish. The minaret of the Hassan II mosque stands over what remains.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Youssef
Youssef used to live in the neighbourhood, but has now moved away, far from his friends. He calls his new neighbourhood ‘the cemetery’.
© Anne Mocaër, France, Shortlist, Professional Competition, Documentary Projects, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards