M. Benembarek
A Moroccan snake charmer in green and purple embroidered attire, a cobra raised to his closed eyes

Morocco

Moroccans

studio portraits of the country's people - musicians, snake charmers, and keepers of tradition, held against the dark so only the person remains.

The series

The series

Moroccans photographed in Morocco

A Moroccan man in a lime-green djellaba with purple embroidery, holding a cobra close to his face
A Moroccan Gnawa musician in a red cowrie-shell hat and black embroidered robe, holding krakebs
An elderly Moroccan man in a yellow cap and orange hooded robe, holding a blue and red drum
A Moroccan snake charmer in green and purple embroidered attire, a cobra raised to his closed eyes
A Moroccan Boujou musician in a towering red-and-green yarn hat, a harness of brass bowls and a bell
An elderly Moroccan Amazigh man in a wide-brimmed straw hat trimmed with red and green yarn and an emerald-green robe with red tarz embroidery, photographed against black

On the series

Moroccans photographed in Morocco is a return to the portrait - the oldest task in photography, and the hardest. Stripped of place and pulled against the dark, each sitter is left only with what they carry: a robe's embroidery, an instrument's weight, the steadiness of a gaze. What emerges is not a document of costume but of presence.

I made these images in the studio, with the country's performers and keepers of tradition - the Gnawa musician wrapped in cowrie shells and krakebs, the snake charmer leaning into a cobra, the Boujou drummer hung with brass. Each one agreed, for a moment, to be seen plainly. The series is my tribute to the people who make Morocco legible to itself.

Available as 1/1sEach photograph in this Morocco series is released as a one-of-one NFT. View and collect the Spirit of Morocco Collection on OpenSea.