A personal celebration
It seems a bit odd posting these photographs after today’s news, but I still believe that Marrakech is a safe destination. The first photograph here was taken ten days ago, in the mirror of the Argana Cafe, where today’s bomb went off, and shows my godson and myself. I’d take him back tomorrow without a second thought.
Anyway, earlier this year I had a “birthday-with-a-nought-on-the-end” and decided to celebrate last week in Marrakech with all the friends and family who could make it over there.
The first two photographs are by me, and the rest are by Nicola Hailstone, Charlotte Hailstone, Tom Kidd and Brian Harris.
Canada
The most frequent comment I heard when telling people about my trip last month to take my parents to visit my brother in Alberta was “Canada? Oh, how lovely!”
Well, no – not all of it is lovely. Most of it is flat and covered in trees, cut through by wide straight highways. This is the road from Edmonton to Grande Prairie, our destination. It takes 5 hours if you set the cruise control to the speed limit:
There are small settlements dotted along every hour or so, but none with any charm:
I have a satnav app for Canada on my iPhone. Useful for the cities, but fairly redundant outside of them. This says ‘turn right in 275 km.’
The more observant of you will notice that the cruise control was set above the speed limit!
However, I did manage to escape for 24 hours, to visit a fellow Wedding Photojournalist Association member in Jasper.
It’s not every day you drive a 600 mile round trip for dinner, but it was worth it! Alisen Charlten and I had a fascinating chat about the similarities and differences of weddings in Scotland and Canada. Most of the couples she photographs are from outside the Jasper area, who come there to get married surrounded by it’s natural beauty.
The next morning, despite the dreary weather, I was able to see why. I’ve never considered myself to be a landscape photographer, but with scenery like this, you can’t fail to get a few ‘picture post card’ images. I’ve always agreed with the great Joe McNally that “I’ve never seen a landscape that couldn’t be improved by putting someone in it!” And in that respect, Alisen has the best of both worlds.
Finally we flew to Toronto, to meet my nephew who’s studying music there. (He’s know to his friends as “Tom ‘YouTube Sensation’ Grosset“) I liked Toronto, and will visit again sometime – when it’s not raining, and for longer than the 36 hours we spent there. Here’s the night time view from my hotel room window:
Working in Marrakech
August is the quiet time for tourism in Marrakech, mainly because it’s so hot. The Riads are empty of visitors, so all the repainting and maintenance work goes on then. I was asked to photograph the Riad Porte Royale in all it’s restored glory and to update the web site.
The only people staying there were my client’s family and friends, who were quite happy to vacate their rooms while we tidied, styled and photographed them.
However, to say it’s hot in Marrakech in August is an understatement! I was expecting it to be over 40c but in reality it was 46c to 48c while I was there. That’s more than hot – it’s like living in an oven! And those are the shade temperatures……. Imagine what it’s like in the sun.
Since the Riad Porte Royale is built in a traditional way, the interiors are actually quite cool. I only used the air conditioning in my room for an hour each night, despite the minimum temperature being in the low 30s.
And one last thing that surprised me – it rained! Twice! I landed in a storm, and then it rained again on my last night. The rain itself only lasts a few minutes and is very refreshing, but the immediate rise in humidity is not welcome.
Here are three photos from the trip: dinner in the courtyard, walking along the narrow lanes around the Medina, and the rain!
Marrakech
I was in Marrakech last week. Partly for work, but extended to have a couple of days R&R. Since it was organised in a rush and at the last minute, I failed to realise that it was the feast of Eid. This celebrates the occasion in the Old Testament when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, before allowing him to sacrifice a sheep instead. It’s of great significance to those of Islamic faith, and every family gathers together from all over the country (similar to Thanksgiving in the USA) before killing a sheep. One third is eaten, one third is preserved and one third is given away to those less fortunate. In Islam, Eid is to sheep what Christmas and Thanksgiving is to turkeys in the Christian and western world!
There were two consequences for me. Firstly, Marrakech was largely closed – the photo below would not normally have been possible, as the crowds in the souk would have been several times as dense!
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The second was that when I met my friend Habib, he insisted on inviting me around to his apartment for dinner. (To be honest, Habib is so hospitable that he would probably have invited me anyway. But he had a fridge full of sheep and his mother staying and cooking for him…..) His apartment is full of amazing rugs and fabrics, and his latest addition is the jacket pictured below. It seems that an artist in Essaouira decided to turn his paint splattered jacket into an amazing work of art!
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The work aspect was a friend’s riad, whose brochure and web site I look after. Since it opened three years ago the Riad Porte Royale has changed enough for it to require a new set of photographs. I just love sitting on the terrace at sunset, and this picture sums up the atmosphere:
I even love the TV aerials and satellite dishes! Marrakech is very definitely NOT in the third world. It’s a medieval city with all the trappings of the 21st century. If you can, you must visit – whatever you do, it will be a new and unique experience!
