25-DEC-2006
Corner shop, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
A shopkeeper in Marrakesh’s medina opens for business as another day begins. Like many of the shops in this teeming markeplace, hers is a street stall. The interior is filled with her goods – she will sell them to passers by in the street. She has chosen a key location. Her little store is on a corner, just across the street from the wide open door of one of the only public toilets in the neighborhood. The wear and tear on the street and walls, the warm colors that reflect the morning light, and the traditional costume of the shop keeper add mood, atmosphere and meaning.
22-DEC-2006
Rural store, Dades Valley, Morocco, 2006
This small shop is typical of the small general stores that serve Morocco’s rural areas. It offers everything from snacks and sodas to propane gas and soap. What drew me to this scene is the juxtaposition of reality and fantasy. The products that define this business surround the three men in this image. They seem oblivious to the metal door at right that displays unintentionally surreal fragments of advertisements, past and present. A primitive rendering of a Kasbah (there are numerous kasbahs in the Dades Valley) featuring a shredded head of a baby floating in the sky overhead, and a huge bar of pink soap made this little shop a memorable sight along the road to Ouarzazate.
25-DEC-2006
Food vendor, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
This marketplace environmental portrait places the subject within the context of his wares. We see what he sells, how he packages and displays it, and get a glimpse of his personality as well. He responds to us neutrally. He does not smile because he probably is tired of being photographed in Marrakesh’s heavily tourist market. He does not frown or chase me away because he does not want to lose a possible sale. And so he takes the non-committal middle road. His clothing is neutral as well. He does not want to compete with the colors of his wares.
21-DEC-2006
Bookstore, Tineghir, Morocco, 2006
Stores come and go quickly in this lively town -- some, such as this bookstore housed in a tent, are temporary. For non-Moroccans, there is a double incongruity here. We don’t often see bookstores in tents, nor its customers wearing striped jellabas. This customer displays a degree of intensity as well, which adds expressive meaning to the image.
25-DEC-2006
Goats, shoes, and scarves, Marrakesh, 2006
Freshly killed goats, racks of shoes and colorful scarves are often found hanging side by side in the souks of Marrakesh. When shooting in markets, I look for incongruities. The carcass of a goat may seem incongruously out of place next to the clothing and shoes, but when market stalls are arrayed side by side, any combination of wares can occur and often does. I found a vantage point that most strongly relates the carcass to the products in the next booth. The salesman adds a touch of human context to the scene.
16-DEC-2006
Fish, Fez, Morocco, 2006
Each craft or product has its own street or part of a street in the souks of Fez. This photograph was made in the street of fish stalls. I was drawn to the rhythms of the tail fins in this picture, a shape that is echoed by the vendor’s planted hand. There are many fish stalls in this souk, and all of their vendors are hawking their wares. I tried to get some of that competitive energy into this image.
29-DEC-2006
The soul of the souk, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
Originally located on the Saharan trade routes, Marrakesh was a convenient staging post for caravans and developed into a major craft and trading center. Today, its teeming souks carry on the trading tradition. Marrakesh’s medina is an intricate maze of narrow streets, often protected from the sun by slated awnings. By mid morning, the Souk Smarine, the busiest street in the souks, is ablaze in shafts of light. It is the sight of shoppers threading their way through these shafts of light that gives this image its meaning and character. Intent on their purposes, they take little or no note of it. But for a photographer, such exotic light is the reason for shooting. It is as if most of these shoppers are being incongruously driven through the souk by an unacknowledged power.
24-DEC-2006
Choices, Place Jemaa el-Fna, Marrakesh, 2006
The square is lined with kiosks and wagons selling produce of every kind all day long and into the night. With an array of twenty different kinds of various fruits and nuts to choose from, this customer has many choices to consider. His extended hand seems to be saying that he wants more than just one thing. Meanwhile, the vendor patiently follows the customer’s deliberations.
22-DEC-2006
Cattle barn, weekly market, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
A building in near ruin serves as a makeshift cattle barn for this man and his potential sales at this vast market outside Essaouira. The early morning light warms the scene – considering the age of the structure and the costume of the cattleman, this image could have been made a century ago. Little has changed in Morocco’s provincial marketplaces over the years. This is an expression in time, as well as place.
24-DEC-2006
In motion, Marrakesh, 2006
Using a slow shutter speed of 1/8th of a second and a long telephoto lens (355mm), I deliberately blur this image to express the tumultuous nature of Marrakesh’s most crowded souk. The focal point of this image is the man carrying rugs on his back. It was apparently moving in the same direction and same speed that the camera was at the instant of exposure. I blurred the photo by moving the camera slightly at the moment of exposure.)
05-APR-2005
Moving marketplace, Li River, Guilin, China, 2006
A group of young souvenir vendors attempt to sell their wares to passengers on every Li riverboat. Success is rare, and the physical risks are high. The big boats are in constant motion, and the fragile rafts, lashed to their sides, seem to be at considerable risk. The image is rich in incongruity – one does not normally find people taking such risks for a few cents of profit. My vantage point was able to encompass three levels of activity here – the fellow at left appears quite casual and confident in his approach, the man in the middle stabilizes the moving raft, while the three vendors at the far right energize the image with their frantic gestures.
01-APR-2006
Naxi family, Baisha, China, 2006
Agriculture in China has always been a family business. This group of Naxi women and children have brought assorted home grown greens to the village, selling them to passersby in the street. This family gave me a chance to make a group portrait, not just a picture of people selling vegetables. A group portrait must define the bond that ties a group together as a group. In this case, the gestures are expressing things important to the group: love, protectiveness, confidence, and industriousness. All are human values that go into making a family work as a unit. Note how active the hands are around the perimeter of the image. The woman at left confidently displays her well-worn hands upon her knees. The younger woman at center wraps an arm around her child. The young boy standing next to them holds a toy in his hands and rests an arm on another woman’s shoulder. And that woman, in turn, strokes the head of the little girl who is arranging the produce in a basket.