There is a silence that slips through the folds of the earth, in the voids left by the water, in the cracks of memory. In Bladi, the new photographic project by Mounir Raji, that silence takes shape, becomes image and narrative. After taking us into the world of Dreamland, this time the Dutch photographer of Moroccan origins takes us back to his roots, along the banks of the Draa River in southeastern Morocco.

Once, the Draa was a lifeline — a river full of life where Raji himself spent his childhood summers, swimming in its waters and watching life flourish around him. Today, much of that water has dried up, leaving behind arid land and a silence heavy with absence. Bladi, which means “my land” in Arabic, is born from that absence, but also from a desire to return, to understand, and to document.

With an intimate and respectful gaze, Mounir Raji tells the story of a transforming landscape, marked by drought and climate change, yet still profoundly alive. The images capture the essence of a place that does not give up, where the quiet strength of nature intertwines with that of the people who continue to live there, love it, and resist.

Bladi is a personal journey, but also a universal one. It is the story of an unbreakable bond between people and land, of a memory that withstands loss, of a return that is not just physical but emotional. This first chapter is only the beginning of a path that Raji will continue to trace with the same delicacy that permeates each of his shots. A journey that invites us to listen to what remains, to look where eyes no longer linger, and to remember.