Way Back Machine: Morocco
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
I got my first camera when I was 7 years old. I took my first photography class when I was 16. I’m dancing ever closer to thirty years behind a camera. Morocco wasn’t so very long ago, but if Cartier-Bresson was right, it was roughly there where I passed that magic milestone.
I have been pondering overall household changes, and some organization of negatives and files has become necessary. As I’ve begun the task of reviewing thousands of negatives and work gone by, Morocco represents a point in time where I felt like I really knew how to handle the craft.
I didn’t.
It’s not an endpoint. Art doesn’t have a point where your development becomes entirely complete. For every image that I fancy is brilliant, there are ten that are dismal mistakes. And I am going to continue to make mistakes. Think journey, not destination.
Here is a small gallery of images from a turning point on that journey; time spent in a roam around Morocco in 2008.
Musician, Marrakesh
Snake Charmer
Moroccan Women
Boy Metalworker
Djema el Fna at Night
Graffiti, Marrakesh
Mosque, Marrakesh
Foothills of the Atlas Mountains
Farmland in the Atlas Foothills
Curious Girl, Ourzazate
Moroccan Gentleman
Lower Atlas Mountains Area
Walking Woman
Alley Cat, Ourzazate
Dades Gorge Area
Oasis, Valley of Roses Area
Man in the Valley of the Roses
Dades Gorge Area
Merzhouga Dunes, Sahara
Merzouga Dunes, Sahara
Merzouga Dunes, Sahara
Merzouga Dunes, Sahara
Berber Musicians Around the Campfire
Sunrise in the Sahara
Sand and Rainstorm, Merzouga
Along the Highway to the Coast
Cart Driver
The Highway to the Coast
Shepherd and Herd
Essaouira by Night
Essaouira Coast
Blue Boats, Essaouira
Spice Souk, Essaouira
Spice Souk, Essaouira
Fishmonger, Fish Souk
Seagazers
Fat Happy Gull, El Jadida
It never fails. There’s always the image that got away. I would have given anything if I’d have gotten that cat in focus…
Shore Cat, El Jadida