The Viral Image Index is a new Welcome Magazine interview series by Claire Koron Elat, which investigates viral images through conversations with creatives who have a track record of creating them. This is the first installment.
In our oversaturated visual landscape, where images circulate with unprecedented speed and aesthetics are perpetually shifting, understanding what shapes contemporary image culture is both more difficult and more urgent than ever. This series is dedicated to seeking such understanding.
Contemporary image culture is defined by a shift toward fast and frictionless visuals. These visuals have more popular influence than long-form narratives, and producing them is a primary focus of brands, corporations, and creators alike. Today, an image isn’t just a picture; it’s a dynamic constellation of context, emotion, communication, and strategy.
At the center of this system is the “prosumer,” a hybrid figure who both creates and consumes visuals simultaneously, blurring the boundaries between audience and author. In this accelerated landscape, the primary language of images is influence and transmissibility.
Through conversations with creative directors, photographers, artists, and other cultural personas, I explore the evolving mechanics of image-making: how images gain traction, how symbols travel, and how meaning fractures and reforms as content moves through digital space.
For the first edition, I speak with Gadir Rajab, the Australian-born stylist, photographer, and founder of the brand Raga Malak. Known for his provocative and instantly recognizable aesthetic, Rajab has styled viral looks for celebrities such as Bianca Censori, whose outfits have sparked global conversations and inspired countless digital recreations. From his early work in photography and modeling, to his current practice of styling and brand ownership, Rajab brings a multi-dimensional perspective to image-making.
We discuss the instability of meaning within images, the tension between visibility and voyeurism, and the porous line between authenticity and performance in a hyper-mediated world—all while holding one question at the center: What makes an image go viral?
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Claire Koron Elat: Your work has spanned photography, styling, founding your own brand, and even modeling. Since you’ve approached image-making from several angles, how do you personally define a good image?
Gadir Rajab: For me, a good image is influenced by having done photography myself. I look at the medium – was it shot on film, medium format, printed in a darkroom, scanned by the photographer? That process interests me visually, and many photographers I follow are returning to those methods.
I also look at the subject, the styling, the team behind it – if the collaboration worked. I want to see something exciting, especially now when so much feels repetitive or overly referenced. I don’t care much about who is in the photo. People shoot whoever is popular to make something go viral, but you can create something compelling without relying on that. That is a skill.
CKE: Do you think a holistic view of the creative team and dynamics behind an image shows up in the final product?
GR: I think so. You can tell when something doesn’t hit the mark because someone’s point of view clashed with another’s, or the collaboration wasn’t there. Sometimes it’s better to let one element overshadow another. Sometimes you can even sense the ego in the photo.
CKE: What kinds of egos?
GR: We’re in an era where photographers, creative directors, stylists, etcetera, are all “popular.” Not influencers exactly, but viral and with massive teams. With that comes ego and pressure because so many eyes are watching.
When I started, magazines were everything. I was a fashion editor at a magazine in Australia I was obsessed with. Back then, you admired creatives for their work, not for follower counts. I love when someone simply doesn’t care and posts freely.
CKE: How do you personally navigate these egos? I feel like today, so much is not about the actual creative work, but about personnel management and preventing escalations.
GR: Because I’ve done this for so long, I avoid situations where I know I won’t feel comfortable or creatively fulfilled. For example, when a magazine wants an editorial but forces you to use only one brand with a tiny press rack, suddenly you’re just dressing, not creating. Or when the photographer is the fifth choice. I want to make work I’m excited about and proud of later, not something trendy or done for validation. In my 20s, I felt pressure to do what everyone else was doing, but once you let go of that, it feels much better.
CKE: So you felt peer pressure to follow trends?
GR: With styling I usually did what I wanted, but there was a moment when I thought I had to follow trends because others’ careers were evolving faster. People doing commercial work or simple dressing seemed to move quicker, and I wondered if I should do the same. Now I’m selective. If the hairstylist or makeup artist doesn’t understand me or the photographer’s vision, they can ruin the whole shoot. People find their communities, the teams they trust. Still, I’m open to new people. If someone has an ego and I’m obsessed with their work, I’ll tolerate it out of respect for the outcome.
CKE: Since we talked about good images—what is a bad image to you?
GR: A bad image can come from many things: bad makeup, bad lighting, the team not executing the concept, or something trying to be provocative without intention. When there’s no concept or cohesiveness, or when it feels lazy.
CKE: I would say your styling is quite provocative too.
GR: I grew up around strict ideas of modesty, so subconsciously I leaned into the opposite. My family is from the Middle East, but I grew up in the West, so I had the freedom to explore that.
I’ve always been influenced by provocative imagery. Many women I worked with were in eras where they wanted to experiment. But I can do fashion beyond nudity. I recently styled something more covered because people were calling me misogynistic – as if I reduce women to their bodies. That’s not how I see it. I find the female body beautiful. Provocativeness isn’t my identity, it’s just something I’ve enjoyed and leaned into at certain times.
CKE: Is provocation the formula for virality?
GR: It can be, but it can also ruin your career, like be the demise of your life. Some provocative moments have destroyed people, others made them huge. Some things I post do nothing, some go off. I mostly post what I love. Of course, Bianca content goes viral, and people love or hate it. It feels different from what’s out there. But I don’t chase virality. That sickness of chasing validation kills your creativity. Still, when you’re online, you start to sense what might perform.
Also, I’m not intentionally trying to be provocative. I did a few things people liked, and then talent and magazines asked me to repeat that vibe. So I did because I enjoyed it. But it’s not something I’ll force once I’m over it. There are many ways to style and express what I’m into at the moment.
CKE: So is this certain style already the past for you?
GR: Not the past, just evolving. Trends cycle, repetition happens, and then I want to challenge myself and try something new. I’m not saying I’m paving the way of certain aesthetics, I just want to do something different.
CKE: What is aesthetically interesting to you today?
GR: Micro-trends make things hard. TikTok creates trends around a single shape or print, and suddenly every brand copies it. It isn’t even tied to an era anymore. I avoid that because you look back six months later and think, “What was that?”
I get influenced by random things, my phone is full of photos of colors, rubbish piles, street details. Right now I’m obsessed with the 1980s: Saint Laurent, big shoulders, strong silhouettes. That feels sexy now. It’s part of my move away from provocation toward shape and structure.
CKE: And with Instagram and Pinterest dominating references, many creatives just find a few photos to replicate and call it a day.
GR: I never really use Pinterest. It feels like the same images over and over. Sometimes I see my old work there and it’s a jump scare. I mostly use a site called FilmGrab. They upload stills from films. Foreign, iconic, everything. I pull references from there constantly.
It keeps my boards from looking like everyone else’s. People ask how I thought of certain set designs or concepts, it’s usually from a random film.
CKE: Since we’re talking about film, costume design has become huge, with shows like All Is Fair.
GR: I’ve consulted for brands and seen how a viral show outfit can blow up a brand. For example, the outfit Maddie wore in Euphoria. It became a Halloween costume, and they made it in every color.
I’d love to do costume design eventually. Sometimes I watch shows and think I could have done something better. Not sure if that’s true, but it crosses my mind.
Shows like “All Is Fair” rely heavily on virality. Kim is a producer, so even if the show is bad, it succeeds. Virality overshadows the art. People online call the styling “archival god,” but on screen it often looks like nothing. It’s the filming, hair, and makeup creating something polished.
CKE: How would you define success then? Maybe it doesn’t have to be virality, but do a large number of people have to recognize it?
GR: I don’t recognize virality as success, but I do think recognition is success. Everyone is viral now. My neighbor is filming their cat and it’s viral. That doesn’t discredit people who studied, assisted, suffered, basically got tortured, and have real vision.
Virality often feels like a form of selling out. I respect people with great resumes who stay focused on their craft, regardless of their online status. Some people go viral without trying, but that’s different.
CKE: So at the end of the day, do you make art for yourself?
GR: Definitely. I do it because I love it, and I feel lucky I can make money doing something I’m passionate about. Not everyone has that privilege. I hope some people see it as art, even if others hate it. I think of myself as part of fashion.
CKE: And when creating images, do you think about their afterlife? Like seeing old work pop up on Pinterest.
GR: My god, yeah. So the thing I did recently, I’m not a control freak, but I just wanted things to finally look exactly how I envisioned them. I randomly decided to shoot my lookbook for my brand entirely myself. I bought wigs off Amazon, cut them in my backyard, blow-dried and styled them. My brother assisted me. It was literally just me having full creative control.
And it actually went viral. I posted all the lookbooks separately and everyone loved them. I got a lot of feedback and even booked jobs because of it. Now I see those photos circulating. And honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about the “afterlife” of the images because I was so invested in the moment. I was literally doing five people’s jobs and stressing myself out, but it worked.
It’s almost like when I don’t overthink it, that’s when it hits. Even with Bianca. That hosiery look we did a couple years ago, it was my first day coming into Yeezy before I even worked there. We did that look with the prototypes people, and that photo was just her standing there.
The hosiery moment was so cool because when you’re in the moment you’re not thinking, How is this going to be printed? How will it be perceived? I don’t think as much about what people will think anymore. That’s something I’ve grown out of. If you question yourself constantly, you’ll drive yourself crazy. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
There have been moments working with people where I look at something and think, Oh, this is going to be appreciated— or this is definitely going to cause a stir.
CKE: Which I guess is going viral?
GR: Yeah. But I think I’m shadow-banned anyway. I’m pretty sure I’m still in that pre-nipple-being-allowed era. They’ve put me in the basket of accounts that can only cater to their current followers. I don’t think I can go on Explore.
CKE: With the Euphoria look that became a Halloween costume, it’s basically like you’re losing authorship of an image or creative work. What do you think about that?
GR: Honestly, if I styled something and it looked great, I’m just proud of it. If people want to recreate it — like a flash moment or Halloween costume — I see that as a compliment. Even now, some stuff I designed for my brand has been copied. Literally on AliExpress and all those websites. I could be angry, but I’m not, because that moment is already done. I’m making new stuff. And honestly, it’s flattering that something traveled across the world enough that someone thought they could make money off stealing it.
I don’t see it as losing authorship. When you create something for the world to see or be inspired by, you’re kind of giving it out.
CKE: One thing about your brand, I read that you once said it is “too Arab for the Western world and too Western for the East.”
GR: Yeah. I grew up in Australia, and honestly, it was quite racist growing up during 9/11. There was a lot of segregation. I grew up in a predominantly Middle Eastern, mixed, non-white community.
So when we were releasing stuff, it didn’t feel taken seriously in Australia. Overseas it was received well, but not at home. I incorporated Arabic graphics and words, but the work was provocative. I wouldn’t go shoot my lookbook in Tripoli, where I’m from — an hour and a half outside Beirut — super conservative. So we were in this middle ground of: Are we going to be accepted anywhere?
Young Arab creatives love seeing other Arabs thrive overseas. That wasn’t the issue. It was more on a large scale. I live in America now, so I’m not in either place, but I also don’t fully belong to either.
CKE: It’s funny because now everyone thinks Arab culture is so cool.
GR: Yeah. It’s weird. I’ve never felt like Arabs were seen positively growing up. Islamophobia was real. But now I feel more accepted, even though the internet just amplifies everyone’s opinions.
I feel a lot of support. I love supporting minority brands and people trying to do something new. We’re in a cool era. Social media sucks in some ways, but it’s so cool to connect globally. I get a lot of messages from Arabs in the Middle East wanting to collaborate. My sister lives in Dubai. I’m going to spend a month there, shoot content, cast people, see what’s happening.
Introduction and interview by Claire Koron Elat @claireoua
thank you, appreciated this.