Hassan Hajjaj Brings His Vibrant Rock Star Portraits to Paris's Philharmonie

Moroccan-British artist and photographer Hassan Hajjaj has spent years turning his lens on some of the most recognisable figures in music and popular culture. His subjects have ranged from Madonna and Alicia Keys to Billie Eilish, Cardi B and the late Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. Now, a selection of 40 works from his "Rock Stars" series is going on display at the Philharmonie in Paris, offering French audiences a chance to encounter his unmistakable visual language up close.

The exhibition highlights a body of work that sits at an unusual crossroads: part portraiture, part fashion photography, part celebration of street culture. Hajjaj's images are immediately identifiable thanks to their saturated colour palettes, patterned backdrops and handcrafted frames. Rather than simply recording a famous face, each photograph functions as a carefully staged environment in which the subject is invited to participate.

Speaking about the project, Hajjaj explained how he constructs these portraits and what changes when a global superstar steps in front of his camera. His approach depends heavily on collaboration, with the artist treating each sitting as a shared performance rather than a one-sided act of documentation. That method has helped him draw out unexpected sides of performers who are otherwise accustomed to tightly controlled public images.

A central element of Hajjaj's practice is the way he merges his Moroccan heritage with the street culture of London, the city where he built much of his career. Motifs, fabrics and objects associated with North Africa appear alongside references drawn from urban music, fashion and design. The result is a hybrid aesthetic that refuses to choose between the two worlds and instead insists on their coexistence.

That blend is not merely decorative. It reflects a broader argument about identity, one that resonates with audiences in an era when questions of migration, belonging and cultural exchange are heavily debated. By placing Moroccan craft traditions at the heart of portraits of Western pop icons, Hajjaj subtly reverses the usual direction of cultural influence, positioning the so-called periphery as a source of style and meaning.

The scale of the Paris show is significant. Presenting 40 works together allows visitors to trace recurring themes across different sitters, from the recurring use of patterned textiles to the playful incorporation of everyday consumer objects. Seen as a group, the portraits reveal a consistent visual grammar that Hajjaj has refined over many years without abandoning its handmade, improvisational spirit.

His list of subjects testifies to his standing within the music world. Madonna, Alicia Keys, Billie Eilish and Cardi B represent different generations and genres, while Lee "Scratch" Perry links the project to the experimental and reggae traditions that have long informed global pop. Photographing such figures requires trust, and Hajjaj has spoken about the importance of making his sitters feel comfortable enough to reveal something beyond their public persona.

The Philharmonie, best known as a home for classical and contemporary music in the French capital, provides a fitting setting for a series rooted in musical culture. Placing these portraits within a venue dedicated to performance encourages viewers to consider the theatrical dimension of Hajjaj's work. His photographs are staged scenes, and the musicians in them are, in a sense, performing a new role.

For audiences in Paris, the exhibition also offers a point of connection with debates about representation in the arts. Hajjaj belongs to a generation of artists whose work has challenged narrow definitions of what non-Western visual culture should look like. His refusal to treat Moroccan references as exotic decoration has made him a reference point for younger photographers exploring similar questions.

The timing of the show places it within a busy cultural calendar in the French capital, where photography and music frequently intersect. By choosing an artist whose work straddles both fields, the Philharmonie is appealing to audiences who may not regularly visit traditional galleries. That crossover potential is part of what makes Hajjaj an effective bridge between institutions and popular culture.

Beyond the celebrities, the deeper subject of the "Rock Stars" series is style itself: how it is produced, borrowed and transformed. Hajjaj's sitters are dressed, positioned and framed in ways that quote from fashion, advertising and music imagery, yet the finished pictures resist simple commercial readings. They retain a sense of humour and warmth that distinguishes them from the polished output of mainstream celebrity photography.

Hajjaj has described his working process as intuitive but demanding, involving careful preparation of sets, clothing and props before a shoot. The frames that surround his images are often made from recycled or everyday materials, reinforcing the idea that high art and popular culture need not be separated by rigid boundaries. This craft-based approach gives the portraits a tactile quality that digital photography often lacks.

The exhibition is likely to introduce Hajjaj's work to new audiences while satisfying longtime admirers. For visitors unfamiliar with his career, the grouping of 40 portraits provides a compact overview of his concerns: colour, identity, collaboration and the pleasure of mixing cultural references without apology. For those who know his practice, the show offers a chance to see familiar images in a new context.

In a cultural moment when debates over identity and heritage can be polarized, Hajjaj's portraits make a quietly confident case for hybridity. They suggest that Moroccan and British, traditional and contemporary, local and global are not opposing forces but materials an artist can combine. The Philharmonie exhibition turns that proposition into a vivid, room-filling experience.

Visitors to the Paris show will encounter images that are loud, patterned and insistently joyful, yet underpinned by serious questions about how culture travels. By inviting global stars into his colourful world, Hassan Hajjaj does more than photograph celebrities. He stages an encounter between different traditions and lets the resulting tension, and pleasure, remain visible in every frame.