An intense conversation
Here is a photo that I took about 15 years ago on my first trip to Morocco. This was my first experience seeing so many veiled women wrapped in the ‘haik’ which is a shroud like garment worn in certain areas of Morocco.
It was about 5pm and the women had escaped their homes for a bit of relaxation under the trees by the Taroudant city walls. I imagined that the tagines were bubbling away tended to by the oldest daughter and that soon the women would return home to serve dinner to their families.
The walls of Taroudant are a rosy terracotta and many women (like the one on the right) wear a light blue haik. All of this is lost in black and white. I’ve gotten attached to colors since I started using digital. Still, I think the intense interaction between the two women comes through and the towering walls behind them give a sense of the medieval and ‘otherness’.
There is a feeling of amazement the first time you visit a country that retains its traditional culture. Sad to say, this amazement does not last. After years of travel, the differences diminish and you begin to see the similarities. That is when you need to exercise your powers of observation. For that you need time. You can’t just rush through in a group, trailing behind your guide who is hurrying to get you to the restaurant at the scheduled time. Sometimes you need to choose to photograph on your own rather than go to a museum or other activity with the group.