It takes a village

Last week in Marrakech we ran our fourth location Series Project- this one in Marrakech, Morocco.

Making things happen in this country is challenging.

The drivers have their own particular view on where they are driving and where they are stopping (you can read my last Email about my own experience here).

And accessibility to people, places, women and children, and the risks of being in certain places at certain times all make it harder to get things done.

Let me be clear here. The photographers on The Series Project are generally not wandering the streets randomly ‘snapping’ everything they see, unless it is specifically planned for the purpose of their individual project.

And usually they will pre-arrange and organise what they can, so they remove as many obstacles as they can to reach that goal.

But to make the projects they did (and this they did!), required an extra level of collaboration.

– With locals who were trustworthy (and required the photographer to build trust first) and understood their cause and goals.

– And with each other, because every photographer has their own unique skillset.

I was in awe of the power of the group, who accompanied each other for safety at 5.30am in the medina and regrouped together on the way back in the dark, held reflectors and watched the gear on someone else’s shoot, coordinated and shared tech and gear, and drivers out into the woop woop, introduced one another to the connections they’d made, and checked in if someone wasn’t back at base when they planned.

The WhatsApp group buzzed (and still buzzes) with comms between them and I am so proud of what each photographer achieved as well as how much they collaborated.

It takes a village to raise a child, and if that child is your photography project, it deserves the same input.

Who are your trusted friends, colleagues and allies who can pull together and support you to make your projects achievable? And who you can give something back to?