David Aït Ali — FACES, Photography as a Way of Life

“FACES was born out of a lack. Not a concept — just an emptiness.” Some entrepreneurs create to fill a market. David Aït Ali creates to fill a void — the one he felt himself as a kid growing up in the streets of Endoume, that Marseille neighbourhood between sea and hills where, in his words, nobody talked about art. Not out of disdain, but out of absence. Today, this son of Endoume has turned his childhood neighbourhood into the epicentre of a project that mirrors who he is: FACES, a gallery-café tucked away at 232 rue d'Endoume, in a long-abandoned space with brick ceilings and raw metal structures. From Rébellion to FACES Before FACES, there was Paris, and Rébellion. In 2016, David co-founded a social-media-born communications agency with Nicolas Boccaccio — strategy, branding, events. BMW, LVMH, Decathlon, Toyota, Ricard and Marseille Provence Airport were among its clients. But when David returned to Marseille, he turned that homecoming into a founding act. He created ALT, a human-scale creative coworking space at 55 rue Marignan, where architects, designers and emerging brands mix in joyful effervescence. Then came FACES — his most personal, most intimate project. © Victoire Eouzan A place that nourishes as much as the coffee Inspired by Amsterdam's FOAM photography museum, David opened FACES in 2024 with Guillaume Berthault. The idea: a hybrid space where you can work at a long communal table, discover a solo exhibition, buy a print limited to €45 to make art more accessible, or head up to the rooftop for a sunset DJ set. The programming is rigorous: Guillaume Blot, Mous Lamrabat, Jonathan Bertin, Letizia Le Fur, Aurélien Ciller, Théo Giacometti, Rodrigo. And more recently, a partnership with WePresent (WeTransfer's cultural platform) to co-curate six exhibitions by the end of 2026 — perspectives from Morocco, Athens and London. “It matters to me to shine a light on the city, but also to bring in artists that people in Marseille aren't used to seeing. The idea is to create a livelier atmosphere, less like a museum.”— David Aït Ali © Victoire Eouzan LESCA × FACES: where acetate meets film When LESCA and FACES met, it just made sense. Two Marseille houses. Two shared obsessions: material, things that last, the beauty of objects that age well. LESCA's acetate and FACES' photographic image carry the same philosophy — resisting the fleeting, insisting that some things deserve to endure. The LESCA × FACES GALERIE capsule collection was born from that meeting. Frames designed for those who look at the world with the same rigour David brings to a photograph — the way he once looked at Endoume before coming back to build what hadn't been there. Discover the LESCA × FACES Collection FACES — 232 rue d'Endoume, Marseille 7e • faces-marseille.com • @faces_galeriePhotos: Victoire Eouzan for Toutma

When LESCA's eye meets FACES' soul

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