Morocco by Hollis Bennet
Morocco was an escape for me. I knew I would need somewhere to decompress after spending time in remote Southern Ethiopia and Morocco stood out to me. I had been engaged in making photographs for an international aid organization for some time prior to my entry into Morocco and I knew I needed to point my lens away from squalor, disease, suffering and abject poverty. Herein lies one of the ultimate truths and strong points of the photographic medium; the ability to influence the viewer not by what is in the frame but rather what is not in the frame. The practice of subtraction is just as important as composition, exposure and all the other elements that make up a photo. You can find all of the terrible pieces of the Human Condition anywhere you travel but it takes a concerted, honest effort to look past that and selectively edit your frame while shooting on the move.
These images from the winter of 2009-2010 are my response to Africa and all of its diversity, scale, frustrations and contradictions, this time, played out in the Kingdom of Morocco. As with anywhere, an attempt to understand can be immensely aided by becoming as objective as possible while being as engaged as possible.
Hollis Bennett is a Nashville, TN based artist.
To view more of Hollis' work, please visit his website.
