You’re the boss

‘You cannot stop in this many places!’ yelled the driver at the photographer with me in the car. This is not how it is done! We go to ceramics place instead!’

I’m writing from the snow sprinkled Atlas mountains in Morocco. Yesterday we woke up in a tent in the Sahara, having arrived by camel, and we made it up here last night after 9 hours of driving.

It’s a stunning trip.

Our driver got a bee in his bonnet because we didn’t want to see the usual tourist spots, and instead were asking him to stop at football pitches Sarah wanted to capture for her personal project.

‘It’s too dangerous!’ he would say. (There was no one there- it was the desert)

‘It will make us too late!’ (But the ceramics and Argan oil places were OK to hang out in.)

Sarah stood her ground and demanded he stop.

‘I’m the boss’ she said. Not easy for the driver to hear. After all- he’s always the boss.

Have you ever felt bullied by the people around you?

Are you forced to work with crew the client has chosen, and who try to take over with no understanding of what you’re doing?

I’ve heard a few stories recently and I know it’s really frustrating when this happens. You can’t lose the plot at them no matter how much you want to kick them off the set or tell them to pull their heads in because, well it’s just not professional.

And you don’t want to piss them off even more because you won’t get the results you need.

Calm and firm does it.

And sometimes a simple; ‘Thank you for your suggestion. I’m going to go ahead with my plan but will definitely consider it for later’.

On Saturday we begin the shoot week of The Series Project Marrakech. Ten photographers have come up with their own ways of communicating something important to them.

It’s their opportunity to say ‘I’m angry’, ‘I’m mad about this’, ‘I’m terrified of this’ or ‘I feel so connected to this’, all through the topics they have chosen.

We’ll try to remain calm with the driver on the way back to Marrakech. After all, the venting can come later, in the images, in the daily reviews, and in the audience conversations.