The Wedding Celebration
Merzouga, Morocco 1997
September is the month for weddings in Morocco. Friends and family gather outside the home of the groom where the bride sits in state for three days. She is attended by her best friend or a female member of the groom’s family, otherwise she does not speak or take part in the celebration. In reality, she is already married because her father or other male relative has signed the marriage contract for her.
The women at the wedding will sing and drum traditional songs for the bride’s amusement and for their own, judging from their laughter. I wondered if some of the songs were a bit bawdy. Later I asked my guide about it and he became indignant, insisting that women wouldn’t talk about such things. I had heard certain words and repeated them to him. “No, No. You are mistaken. They would never say those words.”
This was shot inside a black wool nomad’s tent that was set up in a small desert village near Merzouga. I felt like an intruder with my camera, but the wedding party welcomed me as if I were a member of the family. It was evening, the tent was dark, but a tiny bit of light in one corner highlighted this beautiful woman.
I used print film just so I could send everyone a print (cheaper than having a print from slides). I didn’t realize that I would later come to prize this shot. I like the woman’s pose, the way her face, clothing and drum are highlighted and how the decorated drum of her neighbor fills the right corner of the frame. The negative is long lost, but I did have a small copy on my computer. I used Alien Skin’s Blow Up 3 to enlarge it.