about the girl behind the screen
Who lives in this space?
Hi, I’m Aicha. Come in; it’s a little chaotic in here.
1. Who am I
I’m Aicha, a digital media student, a maker of surreal worlds, and a chronic overthinker who turns thoughts into images, sounds, and stories. I grew up curious about everything: why light bends the way it does, why a song can change a whole room, and why some photos feel like a memory even when you weren’t there.
Most of my creative work lives at the intersection of the real and the imagined. I photograph ordinary moments: a pigeon mid-flight, a friend at work, and the view from my apartment, and then I pull them into Photoshop and let them become something dreamlike. Jellyfish drift through the skies. Fairy wings grow from a boubou. The ordinary becomes cosmic.
This portfolio is where all of that lives now. It’s built for a class, but it’s really a snapshot of how I see: layered, warm, a little chaotic, and always looking for the beauty hiding in plain sight.
the basics
- studies: digital media
- tools: Photoshop, camera, audio
- fuelled by: curiosity and caffeine
- obsessed with: light and texture
2. Comming up – Around the WOrld around the woRLd
the wandering year
nine months. one head full of memories and 3 terabytes of photos , videos and love to share.
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the full story is coming to the blog
Three terabytes of memory and a drive too small for all I’ve experienced. I left with a plan and returned with memories of streets I still dream about. Nine months, too many airport nights, sixteen cities, five continents, yet I didn’t lose weight; I savored the good life, and I’m not going back. Each place took a little part of me, and I don’t want it back. The full stories will be shared on the blog, one city at a time.
2. Three lenses of me, myself, and I
I’m not one single being; none of us are. Here are three versions of me that all live in the same amazing body.
The businesswoman
Gold + Brown
Focused, ambitious, always three plans deep, can work 3 weeks nonstop, stranded on a chair. This is me when I’m building something and refuse to let it be mediocre. even though I’m 20 with a hurting coccyx
the student
Blue + Hope
Curious, VERY anxious, always taking notes. This is me learning, making mistakes, and turning them into skills.
no filters
Purple + Me
Soft, honest, and dreaming out loud. This is me at 2 am, when the work stops being a task and starts being a feeling. I love me in the ZONE
3. What I do
New Worlds
Compositing, masking, color matching, and light logic to build surreal scenes that still feel believable. I start from photographs and pull them somewhere stranger: jellyfish drifting with a cloudhead, fairy wings growing out of a boubou. The trick is never the idea; it is the light. If the shadows fall the wrong way, the whole thing collapses, so most of my time goes into making the impossible obey the same rules as everything around it.
New Eyes
Finding the frame in everyday life. I shoot in the places I pass through, from Dakar to Dubai and the airports and side streets in between, looking for the ordinary moment that holds something more than it should. The real work happens afterward, refining exposure, color, and mood in post until the image feels the way the moment did rather than the way the camera recorded it.
New Scene
Recording, interviewing, and editing sound into something that makes you lean in and listen closely. The hardest part is never in the room; it happens after, cutting out the dead air, finding the one sentence that carries the whole answer, and layering room tone so a conversation feels alive instead of stitched together.
4. A note on the design
I built this site to feel like a personal space, not a clean corporate portfolio. The cosmic starfield, the neon pinks and purple accents, the torn notebook paper, and the sticky notes all come straight from the mood of my early days and how my mind actually feels.
“Expressive” doesn’t have to be complicated. Each block of text stands out on a solid panel; the type is large for easy reading, and the headings are clearly organized for easy skimming or full reading. Navigation is consistent on all pages, and any motion is considered a reduced-motion preference. The goal was to create a site that reflects me while being user-friendly and educational, BUCKLE UPPPPP.
Want to say hi?
I’m always happy to talk about art, light, or the weird ideas that keep me up at night.