Marrakech Medina

Working notes from shooting in Marrakech Medina. Still figuring out what works here. The dominant variable is social, not technical.

Being Seen

The camera makes me visible in a way I'm not used to. Not hostile, but persistent. I feel watched.

I feel more torn on being so seen with the Sony around my neck being an obvious big camera. Switched to the Ricoh IV. I can hold it entirely in my fist. That helped, but the discomfort is not just about the gear.

Stopping is the real social trigger, not shooting. Walking with the camera feels acceptable. Standing still to frame something changes how I'm perceived.

Motion as Defence

I kept walking instead of stopping. Motion became a way to stay below a threshold of visibility. If I'm moving, I'm passing through. If I stop, I become a photographer.

This limits what I can shoot. I'm doing ok with walking around taking the occasional shot. But occasional is the operative word.

Considered hiring a guide for legitimacy. Decided against it. That would solve the wrong problem.

Chasing Conditions

I added four extra days around a work trip thinking I'd get more opportunities with the camera. That framing turned every remaining hour into potential I might waste.

I'm a little sick of walking around trying to find conditions to shoot in. Light, crowds, the right alley. As if I had to find them rather than work with what's in front of me.

In Dublin I don't do this. I go out, I shoot, I come home. Here I kept converting time into opportunity and felt the fatigue of that.

Control and Plans

I repeatedly seeked out plans to regain control. Itineraries, specific locations, times. Structure as a way to reduce the friction of deciding moment to moment.

The pattern: plan, attempt, friction, shrink scope, relief, friction again.

I've had some tough realisations regarding photography perception here. Permission feels scarce in a way it doesn't in Dublin.

Technical Adjustments

Switched to Ricoh GR IV to be less visible. Shooting RAW colour, deferring black and white decisions to post.

Ricoh snap at 2.5m really helped - letting me shoot from the hip without having to stop and compose.

Used constraint assignments to reduce scanning. Framelines' Feb assignment "Negative space". Gave me something specific to look for instead of everything at once.

What I'm Working On

Accepting that occasional shots count. That walking and observing has value even without frames.

Recognising when I'm chasing conditions versus working. One feels urgent, the other feels present.

Understanding that some places make me work differently. That's information, not failure.