Blue walls, cacti gardens, sweet mint tea, simmering tagines, clanging karkabas — if that’s all I told you about Morocco, you’d be left with the pleasant image of an exotic place of sensory excess. An intricately tiled doorway into a world of wonder. A beautiful adventure.

Marrakech is pretty as a picture, yes. But only if you frame it very, very carefully. And only if you ignore how your presence as a photographer fundamentally changes the posture of your subject.

I thought I was “prepared” for our two weeks in Morocco. I scrolled through Instagram hashtags. I jotted down a short list of high-priority attractions to visit. I bought ankle-length outfits. I left space in my liquids bag for plenty of argan-oil acquisitions.

I had no goddamn idea what we were getting into. Read More »