The Covey
Morocco in the late 1990’s
Donkey carts trundled families of Berber women draped from head to toe in black cotton to the Rissani market. The man of the house sat on the driver’s seat and the women bumped along on the floor of the cart or wagon. Sometimes there would be six or seven women plus the goods they planned to sell at the market. I think the women were happy to go to the market. They could catch up on the latest news.
Gossip
I headed into the open market with hopeful thoughts of Irving Penn’s photographs of Berber women in my mind.
Hidden
The women didn’t cooperate. They hid behind cardboard boxes. The covered their faces with their chador or used a basket as a shield. They kept their one eye on me as I tried to catch them in a graceful pose. They ducked if they saw the camera point in their direction.
Unseen
This shot is high-key and high structure. I like the way it emphasizes the folds of the chador. I treated each shot differently trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. But sometimes you have to accept that the situation you hoped for just didn’t happen.