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Ouirgane Valley © 2006
"Narrative can make us understand. Photographs do
something else: They haunt us." - Susan Sontag
Morocco is a photographer's delight, a study in
contrasts, light and shadow. It is not an easy place for
a photographer who wishes to photograph people. This
most open and modern of Arab countries flirts with
western tourism while remaining staunchly traditional in
its heart. Tourism has accelerated and brought surface change but real life for most Moroccans remains
rooted in ancient traditions and religious values.
Arabic letters etched into a hillside in the Atlas
Mountains read "God, Country, King". That is the
order of things. .
The theme running through my mind during
my time here, along with Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at
the Oasis", was of "the hidden" and that is what I
attempted to explore with my camera. Those aspects of a
culture beyond our understanding and not ready to be
shared. The exposed eyes of the Berber woman in the
hijab remind me of the poppy in my garden, at the moment
when it splits its pod and the orange frill spills into
daylight. I discovered a sweetness in this village
woman, who overcame initial shyness to play and laugh
with the stranger. We found common ground in her son.
Her unveiling will come, sooner or
later, for better or for worse, not likely for richer.
Meanwhile, more and more tourists arrive to wander in the
spice souks, marvel at the stars under the desert sky and savor
the foreign. And what, I wonder, will Moroccans find to savour and admire in us? What aspects of our culture and
behavior will they wish to embrace and emulate? AB
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© 2006 |
