Amy Wenzel Photography

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.