Amy Wenzel Photography

FLEXING LESSONS

I’m pretty sure this was his first time ever flexing because big brother had to show him how to do it. This is an important skill he will use for the rest of his male life. It will especially come in handy in High School.

Fun shots of the family…

National Geographic

This past year I had the amazing experience of traveling through many countries as a photojournalist. I was fortunate enough to visit the beautiful country of Morocco. Walking through these ancient streets was so surreal. It was like being in another world. The people of Morocco are very cordial, but photographing strangers turned out to be very challenging and I’ll tell you why…

In most parts of Morocco women are to keep their eyes lowered to the ground. To look a man in the eye is to suggest that you “want to be more than a friend” if you catch my drift. Well, first of all, I’m an artist- I never keep my eyes to the ground! All I do is watch people, study their faces and quirks and always have my eyes peeled for interesting detail in the landscape around me. It’s second nature. I tried really, really hard, but I have to confess I accidently looked many a man in the eye. I couldn’t help it! It was the chance of a life time to photograph this place. But I left there with many men probably thinking I wanted them.

Modesty in dress is also very important there. I always had to have my ankles and arms covered, and when we went out into villages I covered my head as well. I was dying for my tank tops and flip flops.

The second challenge as a photographer was that in Morocco it is very rude to take someone’s picture without permission. They start yelling at you in French or Arabic and you have no idea what they are saying…its very frightening truth be told. You have to be very sneaky or you could land yourself a big moroccan punch in the face. So I have A LOT of pictures of people’s backs. Occasionally I would give someone coins to let me take their picture, but its hard when you don’t speak the language.

The reason for this post is to share some pictures of the ancient city of Fes, Morocco. We visited a tannery there- it was quite an experience. We bought several pairs of colorful leather shoes, purses and other items. But just recently I saw that National Geographic did a short special on this tannery. The facts were harsh about the filth of the job and the young age of the workers. I felt very guilty for what these people go through on a daily basis.

Here is the tannery:

The beutiful shoes they make there:

And here is the national geographic special…Its only 2-3 minutes long, but its was educational and sad. Don’t watch it if you have a weak stomach regarding animal poop. Just a disclaimer! And when I was at the tannery I couldn’t really smell the stench they talk about.

3 Beautiful Girls

This very “grown-up” and spunky girl asked me, “Um, Amy, I was wondering if after the photo shoot you would like to stay for a cup of coffee and visit for a while?”

So I did!

Here she is imitating me with my camera…

This girl is so smart and I think her face is full of gentleness…

And one more I wanted to share because she was so full of kindness and positive energy.

UNDERACHIEVING FISH & NAIL MUTILATION

I like this fish. Although he had a short life as a table centerpiece at a wedding, I think he would have made it big in the world if someone had given him half a chance.

When I was in 5th grade I had a best friend named Jessie. We got into lots of trouble for cutting class. How does a 5th grader cut class? Well, you hide in the bathroom for about an hour and thats simply all there is to it. It was one of those relationshiops where the parents of both friend were calling each other and saying “Your daughter is a bad influence.” No one knew who the real instigator was. To this day I say its her, but she might have a different opinion. This is a photo of her with her daughter and the reason I love it is that Jessie has always been a nail biter/mutilater for as long as I’ve known her, and here is her 2 year old already on the path! This shot also captures exactly how Jessie purses her lips when she concentrates…although sometimes she even sticks the tip of her tongue out abit. You know, I think her daughter has the “stinker” gleam in her eye. Like mother like daughter.