Leila Alaoui | Les Marocains

Photo © Leila Alaoui-All Rights Reserved

I recall featuring the portraits of Moroccans by Leila Alaoui in a 2011 post, and was very glad to see them again featured in Slate's Behold (its photo blog) with the title of Capturing The Stunning Faces of Morocco.

Morocco is, in my estimation, one of the most difficult countries in which to photograph people. Ms. Allaoui agrees with that, saying that Moroccans are especially apprehensive about being photographed due to their belief in witchcraft, the evil eye and as an Islamic country, espouse a belief that image-making is a direct contravention of Islamic tradition.

However, she persevered and went on about 20 road trips across the country in the last few years, traveling through the Atlas Mountains, the Rif Mountains, the Sahara, and a variety of coastal and inland regions of Morocco including Essaouira, Tangier, and Marrakech. She would set up a portable studio in public places, markets, and other private gatherings after spending a few days getting to know the locals. Eventually, some people would agree to pose and be photographed by her.

Leila Alaoui is a French-Moroccan multimedia artist working on cultural diversity, identity and migration using video installations, studio and documentary photography. After studying film and photography in New York, she moved back to Morocco in 2008. Her work has been exhibited internationally since 2009 and has been published in newspapers and magazines, including in The New York Times. She now lives and works between Marrakech and Beirut.

Lalla Essaydi | Les Femmes Du Maroc

Image © Lalla Essaydi-All Rights Reserved

"There is some evidence that the Orientalist perspective has had an impact on the actual lives of Arab men and women, and especially that the rules for Arab women became much stricter as a result of Western influence." Lalla Essaydi

It's rare that I feature work that is more art and mixed-media than pure documentary photography, but the interesting fusion of women portraiture, Arabic calligraphy, and henna in Lalla Essaydi's images encouraged me to show her work on my blog.

Moroccan born, Ms. Essaydi sets up her models inspired by 19th century Orientalist paintings, and adds layers of hand-written Arabic calligraphy with henna to the walls and fabrics that her models wear, as well as to their exposed skin. Her decision to merge the calligraphy (traditionally a male-dominated art form) and henna (a feminine occupation, particularly to celebrate weddings and other joyous occasions) is to try to dissolve the restrictions and fluidity of Islamic traditions.

Lalla A. Essaydi currently lives in the United States, where she received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/TUFTS University. Her work has been exhibited in many major international locales, including Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Texas, Buffalo, Colorado, New York, Syria, Ireland, England, France, the Netherlands, Sharjah, U.A.E., and Japan and is represented in a number of collections, including the Williams College Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Fries Museum, the Netherlands, and The Kodak Museum of Art. 

According to her biography,  her paintings often appropriate Orientalist imagery from the Western painting tradition, thereby inviting viewers to reconsider the Orientalist mythology. She has worked in numerous media, including painting, video, film, installation, and analog photography.

Rachel Carbonell | Moroccan Medinas

Photo © Rachel Carbonell-All Rights Reserved

One of the most difficult countries for people photography is -in my experience, at least- Morocco. This is caused by the local combination of traditional beliefs and the Islamic distaste for the reproduction of the human form. The latter is known as aniconism, which is the practice of or belief in the avoiding or shunning of images of divine beings, prophets or other respected religious figures...and in the case of some Islamic countries, is also misinterpreted as images of all human beings.

Notwithstanding that difficulty, talented travel photographer Rachel Carbonell has just featured Moroccan Medinas: The Colors And Shadows of Life; a photo gallery of more than 40 photographs of the medinas from the blues of Chefchaouen, Larache, Essaouira to the ochres of Meknes and Fez, and from the pinks of Marrakech and Tiznit to the whites of Azemmour, Moulay Idriss, Tetuan and Asilah.

This is a project that took more than two years to complete, over many voyages to Morocco. It's also how Rachel tells us how the atmosphere of its bustling streets and alleys hopelessly caught and seduced her.

The word medina is the Arabic for city or town, and are generally found in many North African cities. They are typically surrounded by a wall, and contain many narrow and maze-like streets, and can also contain historical fountains, small palaces (or riads), and mosques. Some medinas were also used to confuse and slow down invaders because of how narrow and winding their alleys were.

Rachel has also published a book Moroccan Medinas which is available on Blurb.

Rachel Carbonell is a Spanish photographer who graduated from the University of Deusto, and studied Photography at IDEP (Barcelona). She is a Getty Images Contributing Photographer, and her images have been published in press, books, magazines, websites etc. such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, MC Ediciones, Random House Mondadori S.A, Glamour France, Iberia, Nulle Parts Ailleurs Productions and others.

Climbing The Atlas Mountains

The TImes Online posted a story a few days back about trekking the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and more specifically a winter climb up Mount Toubkal, a 4167m (13,671 feet) peak that is the tallest in Northern Africa.

The story opens by saying that most climbers going to Africa head to Kilimanjaro to claim the highest peak on the continent, but there are other mountains that are more technically demanding, and far less crowded. Enter Toubkal, a mountain that offers spectacular views of the Atlas Range, the Sahara Desert, and even the Atlantic Ocean. During the winter months, Toubkal requires the use of crampons and ice axes, although once acquainted with those tools, an experienced and conditioned trekker should be able to challenge the summit. All told, the winter climb takes about four days, depending on conditions on the mountain.

The Atlas Mountains have gained an excellent reputation for themselves as a great place for hikers of various skill levels. There are guided treks that pass through villages and offer up some great scenery, and there are more serious ones like this climb that focus on reaching the summit of a peak or two. For anyone interested in going to Morocco, these treks offer the opportunity to explore the remote countryside while still mixing in some cultural experiences.

The article gives good information on when the best time to go is, as well as a link to the guide service they used on their climb. Looks like I have another trip to add to my list!