CANDID PORTRAITS FROM MOROCCO

[mikeroch]

Recently returned from Morocco. The locals are very reticent indeed about being photographed (tending to aggressive actually!) so I had to be fast and cunning to get these. Three were shot in the coastal town Essaouira and the 4th (the old Berber guy in brown) snatched through the coach window. It's only when you get them on the screen that you notice the things that spoil the shots, the plastic chair and the trainers, the Alawite woman's sunglasses. I like the blue boats best .... lots of tension in that shot.

All shot with Pentax K20D and 55-300 zoom set on or near Maximum.

[Savlet]

Nice candids. I particularly like the first shot - there's just so much going on there with those four men on the bench, the first one have a good ol' yawn, the second one taking a nap, the third one in contemplation and the fourth one checking out his swollen ankles - I love it and can look at it for ages and come up with a different story about what's going on each time. I find it very witty.

Sarah

[pierovera]

Nice shots! I actually find the elements that you said "spoil the shots" to be adding to the shot rather than detracting from it. Personally I interpret it as the way modern culture has fused with traditional culture, the people dressing as it's traditional in the place yet including little modern pieces in their lifestyle, for example as we see here, a plastic chair and a pair of trainers.

Anyhow, good job