More negative scanning! These photos are from a trip I took with two friends, Jennifer and Kim, to Asilah in northern Morocco in 1993. Asilah is a beach town with an artsy reputation, and we spent a night there on our way up to Tangier.
I remember wandering around the medina, or old city, and being captivated by all the colors and the architecture. I particularly liked this tiny, eye-shaped window with its own minuscule, metal grill.
The city sponsors a public arts festival that attracts mural painters to adorn its walls. We had a great time checking out the murals, which were months old by the time we saw them.
This trip was also remarkable because Jennifer and I shaved our heads in Asilah (a much more dramatic feat for Jennifer, who previously had long, voluminous hair). Kim, though stopping short of shaving, cut her hair very short.
I'm still in touch with Jennifer on Facebook, but I haven't communicated with Kim since Peace Corps. I don't even remember her last name. Sad!
Cool photos -- I particularly like the shades of blue everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering -- what made you guys shave your heads?
Jennifer actually started it -- she had very long hair at the time, and she was sick of caring for it. When you're out in the rural parts of Morocco and living like a local, long hair can be a pain. Kim had longish hair too. I had pretty short hair, but I wasn't routinely shaving my head then like I do now -- so it was just a crazy thing for all three of us to do.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it odd how we humans design such different ways to build our shelters? It's interesting to me that beach towns all over the world invariably use the more pastel colors as if reflecting the skies and the water and the sunsets and sunrises. No somber colors for their walls. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteI like the colors too - they just scream vacation to me (which is nice to hear in January - ha!).
ReplyDeleteI guess the little eye shaped window is for peeking out...or in.
ReplyDeleteLove these photos, Steve! I had never heard before of scanning negatives. Do you end up with a print? Or a CD?? My negatives are pretty scattered and sometimes not with the original photos. Scary.
ReplyDeleteMs Moon: It IS interesting that whitewash is such a thing in beach towns. At least in sunny ones.
ReplyDeleteBug: That's why Morocco is such a huge vacation destination for cold Europeans!
Ellen: I'm guessing out. If you peeked in you might get in trouble!
Lynne: I ended up with a CD. It's really great, although a bit expensive -- £9.99 per roll of film, or about $16. I can't afford to have ALL my negatives scanned! Scanning straight from the negative is great because you get better quality, and you avoid print discoloration (particularly from older photos). I think it's possible to get a home scanner that can do negatives, but I haven't researched it.