Coming out à l'orientale

2Fik is a 37-year-old artist and photographer and a French citizen of Moroccan descent who has lived in France, Morocco, and Canada at different stages in his life. Thanks to a professional contact I made in April 2010, I discovered his photography and I immediately wrote to him to explain my interest in his work and my own project. Although 2Fik is now building his life and career in Montreal, he returns annually to Paris to visit his family and friends, and this gave us the initial opportunity to meet in June 2010. Since that time, we have continued to keep in touch regularly through email and social media. We see each other occasionally, with follow-up meetings in New York City (2012), Washington, DC (2013; 2014), Paris (2013), and Montreal (2014; 2015; 2016). We have also presented together on university campuses (Carleton College, 2011; The American University 2013; 2014) in order to facilitate conversations between artists, researchers, students, and the general public.

During our first semi-structured interview in June 2010, 2Fik independently divided his life story into four different periods of eight-year segments for me. He explained during this first interview the importance of speaking to one's audience by using terms they understand, especially when speaking about a delicate or taboo issue like homosexuality for a family of Maghrebi tradition. 2Fik defines “coming out à l'orientale” as follows: