Aisha and Zohra at Home
Morocco 2005, A Berber family camp, somewhere in the desert east of Merzouga
My guide used to take me to look for nomads. He would ask the camel traders if they knew of any encampments. Often, a trader would accompany us for the day. He’d get free transportation to conduct his business of buying and selling camels. And my guide would have someone to show him the way as well as bring him up to date with the ‘news’. I’d sit in the back seat with my camera gear enjoying the feeling of being there but yet not being there.
I used to feel like I was a witness, not a participant, in whatever was going on. I could understand only a few words of Moroccan dialect, such as how are you, etc. It was freeing to not have to join the conversation. Just watch the faces, listen to the cadence of the language and now and then take a photo. The ‘fly on the wall’ syndrome. I liked it.
Aisha and Zohra ran to greet us when we approached their family’s tent. They were happy to see me. From that moment on, I was no longer a fly. Or if I was, I was their fly. They showed me everything they had. Aisha ran out to get her father’s cell phone which was hung on a tall pole in order to get a signal. Aisha was the oldest and she would ask me the same question over and over. And I mean over and over. It seemed there was a dearth of experience in her mind and she desperately wanted to learn about me but didn’t know the questions. I had a hard time answering her in a sweet tone for the hundredth time. Her mother noticed and looked up sharply when I allowed some sarcasm to color my voice. After that I was careful.
The nomads were happy to have company. They made tea for us and wanted to make a meal for us, but we refused. We had other nomads to shoot.
It was nearly noon when I shot this and as you can see, I didn’t use fill flash and also you can see that there is no shade except for the tent. The harsh light on the rocky desert floor does bounce up into Aisha’s face and light it a bit. I wanted to show the isolation of the desert and I think that is accomplished here. I darkened the top of the sky…always a good thing to darken your edges. It directs the viewer to your subject, like a vignette but more subtle.
For your own visit to Morocco, contact Ali Mouni at www.adventureswithali.com