Trip to Morocco-advice needed

[rxmd]

I did not photograph unless I felt I was welcomed into the community of worship. In fact, the act of photographing itself became a sort of recognition and worship. I understood this and my subjects understood this.

I agree completely. You can photograph pretty much anything if you get people to consent with being being photographed, beforehand. You can invest an hour into getting acquainted with them beforehand, or you can invest an hour arguing and running from trouble afterwards. If you take the time to get to know the people you're photographing, your photos are likely to turn out much better than the so-called "candid" photography constrained by what you think you can do stealthily, and in addition you get to know lots of interesting people. Then it's like photographing at a wedding. So if you're genuinely interested in what you're photographing, and you show this interest, people are quite likely to appreciate it, and when they don't, it might not be a good idea to photograph them anyway.

Philipp

 

[emraphoto]

"I invested a lot of time talking to folks and trying to understand the specifics of their faith"

and there is the key to both a great trip and great photography... talking to folks!

...speaking some french will help.

 

[stefan_dinu]

Since I am official living in a francophone country (even though in Romania English is more common than French) and I studied French in School (unlike English for that matter) I understand French and speak a little. Romanian is a Latin language, and we have a lot of words that sounds the same in Romanian. I think it is a good idea to exercise some simple lines in French.
As for people demanding money, bare in mind that I was in India. And as I was told, India is much worse regarding beggars and insistent vendors. Now I have the experience to politely deal with those situations.
The problem with taking photos of women is in India also. In Rajasthan not only the muslim ladies are covered, but also the hindu ladies. In fact, the hindu ladies has their eyes also covered. But if you can get in touch with those people you can play with your camera a bit. The key is to take tour time and give them the opportunity to stop you from taking pictures before you do that.
Before I am ready to show you some pictures from Morocco, here are some examples from Thar Desert in Rajasthan to sustain my assertion on how women are completely covered there.
Thank you once again all for sharing your experiences. It is an interesting reading now, the whole topic.

 

[kuzano]

Let me pass on a National Geographic tip....

Let me pass on a National Geographic tip....

Nice post, Kuzano. It is often difficult to avoid political coloration of discussions like this.

Although some effective images obviously result, I'm not attracted to the notion of shooting tight photos of anonymous strangers on the street. Reluctance about invading their privacy is part of it, but the larger part is that pictures of complete strangers mean less to me than pictures of people with whom I've at least spoken. Even then, I take very few.

Street photography also seems to be an urban exercise. For better or worse, I'm in suburbia. My streets are four lanes wide and filled with SUV's and the odd jogger or two.

First, thank you. Admittedly I live in Non-Street Photography Nirvana. I live in the Pacific NorthWest, in a community where a short drive (15 minutes) in either direction from town takes me out into Sagebrush and Juniper high desert country, or Pine infested mountains the other way.

Secondly, we had a photographer speak at our Camera Club meeting. He was a pulitzer winner and had photographed in the "killing fields" and the areas of the Kmehr Rouge at the time of all the displacement of thousands of people. He also spent years engaging people to photograph for his work.

Here is one tip I particularly recall, although again, it's not my style of photography. I could see doing this. Engage the people in discussion. Never raise your camera, until you reach a point where it may be appropriate. Do this approach where the people are doing something with their hands or goods. When appropriate, ask them if you can take a picture of the craft or activity they do with their hands, just the hands. Then, work from there to the bigger picture if acceptable. This photographer said the payback is twofold. You get some interesting shots close up that you may never have considered taking, and you cautiously gain acceptance of the people pictures you are striving for.

I wonder how many reading this participate in camera clubs and local events of this nature.

We have a competition event... one for prints and one for projected digital images, all for critique the first Monday evening of the month, and a program night the third Monday. We have about 120 in our club and often have impressive speakers which we draw from a community of about 80,000 people. Our community attracts retirees and tourists, and we often have people with some interesting credentials and bodies of work to speak about.

 

[oscroft]

Hi Stefan,

Before I am ready to show you some pictures from Morocco, here are some examples from Thar Desert in Rajasthan to sustain my assertion on how women are completely covered there.

They're not always completely covered - I found it varied from place to place, and from individual to individual. Here are some of my shots from the Thar desert in Rajasthan...

http://homepage.mac.com/oscroft/photo/india/india4/103_014.html
http://homepage.mac.com/oscroft/photo/india/india5/104_013.html
http://homepage.mac.com/oscroft/photo/india/india5/103_028.html
http://homepage.mac.com/oscroft/photo/india/india5/104_010.html

 

[dexdog]

As someone with Morocco on my list of places to visit, I have really enjoyed this post. Lots of good information from a number of folks, and a polite responsible tone throughout. Just like traveling anywhere, being respectful of others cultures and knowing a bit of the local language always pays off.

Great thread, folks.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Check out dates and route of the Lisbon-Dakar rally.

I think it starts on 5 January in Lisbon and gets to Morocco two days later.

Big off road vehicles, big motorbikes, and lots of glitz and glamor.

 

[stefan_dinu]

Actualy, that is the reason I am being there. I am not attracted by cars and races, even though I drive a beautiful SAAB. But one of my friends goes there for the Grand Prix and we split the costs. I hope to be one of the official photographers for the next year Paris-Beijing Rally which is more exciting for me.

 

[raid]

Once I was in Rabbat (Morocco), and I wanted to tour the gardens surrounding the Royal Palace there. I stopped at the entrance and I asked the guards if it was OK to take photos,and they said it was OK. As I was standing in front of a lawn, facing the King's room, I set up my Contina on a tripod when a guard with a machine pistol stopped me from taking a photo. He then insisted that I take a self portrait. I guess, he wanted to see if a missile comes out of the camera or not. When he heard the "click" and he saw me still alive, he allowed me to take a few photos.

A similar incident occured to me one week later in Tunesia. There, two policemen with machine pistols "sandwiched' me in the main street "Habeeb Burqayba" as I was peacefully walking there with my camera.

 

[raid]

As someone with Morocco on my list of places to visit, I have really enjoyed this post. Lots of good information from a number of folks, and a polite responsible tone throughout. Just like traveling anywhere, being respectful of others cultures and knowing a bit of the local language always pays off.

Great thread, folks.

Mark,

Just be yourself, smile a lot, and don't carry a camera bag loaded with camera gear. Morocco is a well-known tourism country. With people photography I would nod at themfirst to see their response. If they smile ornod back, go for it and take a photo.

 

[raid]

"I invested a lot of time talking to folks and trying to understand the specifics of their faith"

and there is the key to both a great trip and great photography... talking to folks!

...speaking some french will help.

It is a very important factor to know their language and culture. Arabic is my mother tongue, so it is easy for me to communicate there, but French is also very widely spread among people. The less educated people may prefer speaking Arabic to French, but both languages are fine there.

 

[bob cole]

Trip to Morocco-advice needed

It was many years ago, but I had no problem taking photographs anywhere in Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Mogador or Marrakesh... [The Arab children all know Spanish near Spanish Morocco and French in the North...]

But I definitely had a problem in standing with a drink at a local bar when a woman walked up to me and asked me to buy her a drink -- which I did to be polite...

In about five minutes or so, a man came by to tell me that was his girl and I owed him something for her time...

I felt intimidated and gave him a US dollar, I believe, to avoid a problem...He looked determined...


Word of advice: don't!

 

[wgerrard]

...if you saddle on up to the local merchant at the cafe and stike up a conversation... don't be suprised if you're invited to dinner.

Absolutely. I can vouch for that..

On the flip side of human nature, has anyone other than me been shaken down by the local cops at phony roadblock? Happened to me a few times in southern Africa. The cops set up a roadblock and pretty blatantly demand cash from you before they let you through. In some places they may not have been paid in months, but still. A cop with an automatic weapon can be very persuasive.

Worst cop scam I ran into was in South Africa. They ran a pickup very slowly up and down a curvy rural road. When you passed the truck, other cops would flag you down for speeding, crossing the line, etc. They'd write a ticket for the equivalent of 50 bucks or so, and give you the option of paying them or driving to the courthouse, which was 150 miles away.

 

[emraphoto]

Absolutely. I can vouch for that..

On the flip side of human nature, has anyone other than me been shaken down by the local cops at phony roadblock? Happened to me a few times in southern Africa. The cops set up a roadblock and pretty blatantly demand cash from you before they let you through. In some places they may not have been paid in months, but still. A cop with an automatic weapon can be very persuasive.

Worst cop scam I ran into was in South Africa. They ran a pickup very slowly up and down a curvy rural road. When you passed the truck, other cops would flag you down for speeding, crossing the line, etc. They'd write a ticket for the equivalent of 50 bucks or so, and give you the option of paying them or driving to the courthouse, which was 150 miles away.

although never subject to such an unfortunate occurence that was a widely covered issue in south africa. appently so much so that a local tv station ran an expose' of sorts on the matter. i think the practice stopped quite quickly afterwards.
you really just want to avoid the police... unless you really need them!

 

[wgerrard]

although never subject to such an unfortunate occurence that was a widely covered issue in south africa. appently so much so that a local tv station ran an expose' of sorts on the matter. i think the practice stopped quite quickly afterwards.
you really just want to avoid the police... unless you really need them!

The guys with the pickup and the speed trap weren't so bad, actually. They didn't make any effort to disguise what they were doing. We all had a nice chat by the side of the road for an hour or so, while watching them lure others into their net.

I'd just give the roadblock guys 10 rand and go on my way.

Another story: In Swaziland (a tiny nation sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique) I once phoned the local cops to report a disturbance in the neighborhood. They said they'd be happy to come out and investigate if I could drive to the station and give them a lift. It seems the Under-Assistant Principal Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, or some such, had requisitioned a Mercedes and every other police vehicle in the city for a day's expedition.

 

[Monz]

Raid:

I have taken photos of people easily in Jordan, so photography in Morocco should not be more difficult. I even took photos of bedouin women.
Not to side-track this thread, but it is a related question:
What about photography in Saudi Arabia?Is it allowed? Is it allowed but difficult?
How about taking photos of people praying?

Marc-A:

Raid, I know that Saudian are pretty sensitive when it comes to photography. I would certainly not take photos of women and people praying, unless it's Hadj.
See Monz Ahmed's pictures.
Best,
Marc

Pablito:

But there are two sides to everything. I am finishing up now a book of my photographs to be published in 2008 and one of the main themes is religion. There are many photos of people praying, taken in places of worship of various western and non-western belief systems. As part of the working process, I invested a lot of time talking to folks and trying to understand the specifics of their faith. I did not photograph unless I felt I was welcomed into the community of worship. In fact, the act of photographing itself became a sort of recognition and worship. I understood this and my subjects understood this.

This is a very interesting thread.
Some of you may have seen pictures showing the 2006/7 Hajj in my gallery (all taken with a Contax T camera over a 2 week period).

I became interested in photographing the Hajj after seeing the works of Japanese photographer Kazuyoshi Nomachi in a magazine in the late 1990's. Recently, I chanced upon a book by Nomachi entitled "A Photographers Pilgrimage" (first published 2005). More info at...
www.globecorner.com/t/t41/20901.php

The book is a gem. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in exceptionally dramatic human photography. Not only are the photographs technically brilliant but they are taken and presented in a sensitive way and the accompanying prose is first rate.
Some of the pictures can be found on-line....
www.nomachi.com/index_en.html
Be sure to look under 'galleries'; there is a section on Morocco there.

Here is an account of Nomachi that I found on the web:
==================================================
Kazuyoshi Nomachi was born in 1946 in Kochi Prefecture, Japan.
In 1971 he began his freelance career as an advertising photographer. He turned to photojournalism the following year, at age 25, in the course of his first encounter with the Sahara Desert.
After two years spent photographing the desert, he followed the Nile River from mouth to source and then travelled through Ethiopia, his photographs capturing North Africa's harsh environment and the men and women who live in it.
From 1988 he turned his attention to Asia. Repeated trips to Tibet produced photographs depicting the religious faith and daily lives of people living at extremely high altitudes.
Converting to Islam in order to gain access to Islam's holiest cities, he travelled to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of a Saudi publisher and spent five years photographing the great annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.
The photographs that resulted appeared in leading publications around the world, including National Geographic, Stern and GEO.
He has published 12 photographic anthologies in various countries. His work has won numerous prizes, among them the Annual Award of the Photographic Society of Japan in 1990 and 1997.
===================================================

All the best.
--
Monz

 

[emraphoto]

thanx monz
very interesting work...