morocco

street life

First stop in Marrakech is Djemaa el fna - the main square.  This is where you can catch the snake charmers and whirling dervishes.  While this is a tourist destination, I was impressed that it seemed to be used a lot by locals, too.  The tradition of storytelling is alive and well in Morocco and folks would gather in large groups around one man telling a very animated story in (unfortunately for me) arabic.

bread

I passed this doorway every time I left my little neighborhood.  There was no light except for what the doorway offered and so it was very hard to tell what was going on inside but I felt it was something important given the amount of traffic going in and out.  I mentioned this to the other photographer that I had been working with (an american who has been living in Morocco for several years) and he told me that most residents don't have a proper oven to bake bread so they prepare their dough at home and then bring it to the local bakery for baking. On my last day in Marrakech, I got up the courage to peek in. The baker stood down in a hole next to the oven and kept the fire going while feeding in the different doughs as they arrived.  There were 2 other guys sitting in a corner playing checkers on a piece of cardboard with all red plastic bottle caps on one side and all blue on the other.  Here,  a girl waits outside for her tray to cool enough to bring home.

 good luck charms

After paying about 3 times more than I should have to be led through a labyrinth of alleyways to my hotel, I decided that my best defense against the Moroccan way of doing business was to go out with no money in my pocket.  I am a terrible liar and an even worse negotiator so being able to say that my pockets were empty made my interactions with vendors and artisans much easier.  During one of my first walks around, I met Fataa.  He carves wood with his foot, operating a lathe that he learned how to use from his father.  Fataa demonstrated how it all worked and then offered me what he had made (see below).  I told him that I had no money (though I did really want this beautiful little object that had been so ingeniously made right before my eyes) and he said that no, it was a gift, a good luck charm for me. 

more pix on instagram at meredithheuerphotog