Exploring Morocco Through Street Photography // Church & Street Teaser
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Street photography in Morocco with my Fujifilm X100V sounded like the perfect creative escape but the experience turned out to be so much more. In this extended preview, I take you along our journey to show a more authentic look at the street photography experience in this historic country. Enjoy.
Director: Gajan Balan
Cinematography: Johnavan Thomas
Featuring: Jason Roman & Sire Roman
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#Fujifilm #X100V #StreetPhotography
This was masterful from beginning to end. You absolutely killed it and I can honestly say there isn’t another UA-cam video on Morocco with this level of quality your images display.
Bravo brother! Can’t wait to see the full episode. Honored to have been on this journey. 🙏🏾🙌🏾
Couldn't have done it without you man, one of the greatest creative experiences to share this journey with the crew. Captured the streets but my only regret was that we didn't capture the Street Fighter tournament, lol. Next time!
@Stockezy facts!
Liked, commented, and subscribed. This is going to be legendary.
Thank you brother, really proud of this one ✊🏾
I don't know what is happening with the youtube algorithm but this video deserves way more views. Fantastic video!
this actually the first video I've watched from start to finish without skipping for a long time, fantastic, well done Gajan
That means a lot, truly. Thanks for watching.
This felt like a visual novel. A masterpiece from start to finish. If you have any plans on making a zine/book out of the photos from this trip, imma be first in line my dude. great work!
Truly appreciate the support, thank you 🙏🏾
THE GOAT IS BACK
Appreciate you brother! This year gonna be difffffffreent 😤
This was excellent bro! Love the way you captured your journey!!! 🔥🔥🔥👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you! Truly means a lot brother, I appreciate you watching!
You simply nailed it Gajan. i can only imagine the amount of hours you spent to produce a jewel like this. as usual the narration is world-class.
Thank, truly appreciate that 🙏🏾
Enjoyed the images Gajan but man your craft as a story teller is noticed also - you’ve always been able to take us with you and I appreciate your ability to speak me into the city with you.
Thank you brother! Truly appreciate you sharing that.
Love Stockezy breakdown at the end and the added insightfulness of understanding your WHY for creating images.
Great video Gajan, excited for this series of videos.
Thank you, Stockezy is one of a kind. The dude knows the space.
Wow and wow. This is one of the best photography videos I have ever seen. I enjoy photography on the side when I travel - not really street photography but more about the places. This narrative helped me understand what people mean by street photography and why they would enjoy it as never before. I loved the commentary by you and your companions, and the images are stellar. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Thank you so much 🙏🏾
What I'm watching is street photographers who want to look like street photographers. You strutted around with backpacks, cameras dangling from your wrist, not making ANY effort to disappear into your surroundings. Were you expecting some kind of "star treatment"? The fact that you kept walking around and not understanding the vibe of the city is the most surprising thing here. Wow.
What I’m seeing is an anonymous hater that wouldn’t grant anyone a suspension of disbelief unless it was on their terms. Put up or shut up pal.
@@GajanBalan not a hater at all, love your work. It just seemed incongruous that you didn't adapt to the surroundings while knowing full well what you were facing.
@@Squapity you realize that this is just a fraction of our trip filmed for this production and that most of the images required traditional street photography work, right? It really sounds like you’re looking for a flaw to point out to suit your theory.
I saw that too - typical american gung ho attitude that is not welcome in many places. Not surprised they got the reception they did!
Great video, I hope you saw more than Kech and Essaouira of this great country. After 3 years I left in December, I used to live in the capital, Rabat and travelled all places. The rest of the country is really different than Marrakesch. Have you seen the beautiful desert and the awesome mountains? Will there be more videos?
What must not be forgotten is that the people who live from tourism suffer a lot from the border closure and they are even more dependent on the little income from domestic tourists. For religious reasons, it is very difficult to make street portraits there.
Caught these photos at the Design Exchange by chance and recognized your name which led me to this video! Great stuff man!
No way? Thank you, truly appreciate you sharing that.
Clean narration and solid storytelling! Entertaining for a solid 18:35, not to mention the pictures themselves 👍🏾👍🏾 earned my sub brah.
Truly appreciate the support. Thanks for watching ✊🏾
Loved this and the memories it brought back! Loved that I was able to be a part of this and even loved that watching this inspired me to want to travel more! So many great images and storytelling in here, looking forward to the next one! 🙌🏾 🥤😎🍿
Hell yea brother, can’t wait for the next one. And next time we gonna bring you a mic too 😅
Many challenges you reported are definitely true and I can say that as a national of the country. While that shouldn’t detract from the incredible kindness and helpfulness of the city’s people (and you mentioned that as well) it’s very important to be aware of that as a street photographer visiting the city especially for the first time. I would also suggest that it would be very helpful having a national or even better a citizen of Marrakech with you when roaming the city as they could help explain the subtleties of dealing with people and they also importantly de-emphasise the tourist stigma around you or your group. And I do not mean a guide, I mean finding a fellow photographer or a passionate street photographer through either social media, your following, contacts and so on in order to avoid scams.
Thanks for this great short documentary!
Thank you, I agree.
Brilliant! It felt like I was part of the tour, plus the words are truly inspiring. Thanks for this Gajan!
Thank you! That was the goal and I’m glad you felt it 🙏🏾
Dude, fantastic video. Love the images you took but the wisdom shared throughout the video.
Thank you for this.
Thanks for watching, first full episode drops tomorrow ✌🏾
Can’t wait for this video
Thank you Ephraim ✊🏾
Having been to this location, I agree: It is a challenge. Citizens there are very nice overall but clearly and outspokenly do not want to be photographed without permission. And don’t take for granted that you will be able get that.
That said I was happy to have brought the wide angle lens adapter with me (28mm equivalent).
This did not disappoint! The thoughtfulness put into the commentary really put this over the top. Great writing, great photos, and excellent work as usual Gajan!
Truly appreciate that brother, thank you as always for the support ✊🏾
Hello what kind of film simulation you use to have this color? Big hug from Lisbon
@@apaivacarvalho for the photos, I shoot them with my Balan Colour profile (I have a video on all of them) but these have all been edited with my Capture One Styles. Hope this helps!
when i was in morocco, i had a fuji xt2 back then, with a small prime lens, nothing to that would catch the attention from afar. so many locals were shouting at me "no photo !"...kids that were playing football, were screaming at me "no photo!"... walking through a market with hundreds of people, I had to hear the same story... over and over again. i was the tourist in marakesh who were not allowed to catch the locals on shot (photo). such a disappointment experience. however everybody wanted my money.. when visiting the place at 08:30 in this video.. i had to pay the guard even though it was supposed to be free, some people that were randomly on the photo asked for a tip, even though they were never the main subject of the photo.... and now in this video everything looks so easy and welcoming.. i'd never turn back to marakesh.
This is almost too good to be on UA-cam! Such a great visual storytelling.
I truly appreciate that, thank you.
Outstanding images and video.. This was very enjoyable to watch... Looks like the prefect place to use range/zone focusing and take images from the hip. Thanks guys...
Bruh I love this! As someone who really loves the idea of street photography but rarely engages in it, I felt inspired. Keep this great content coming!
Thank you!
the vibes~ loved the background music added
Thank you 🙏🏾
This is so sick! Cant wait to sit at work at watch haha
Haha, love it!
Very good video and advice. Thank you. Marrakech is definitely deleted from my travel list.
amazing story telling along side stunning photos and notes about how to do street photography all in one package.
You know it. Thanks for watching ✊🏾
Wonderful. Thank you
Thank you for this video Gajan. Insight, inspiration, travel tips, friendships and a shout to a minotaur.. This is the kind of video that will really leave an impression for years to come when the gear review videos are not as relevant.
That’s the goal. Thanks for watching!
Excellent video mate! you put that x100v to work!
Appreciate you brother. You already know, this 📷 is just something else.
Great video, I love your travel photography videos. they are always entertaining and you learn always a lot about people & culture. I learned like you from my various travel (Marrakesh, Havana, Caracas, Dhaka, Delhi...) that when you are leaving the capital and big cities everything is more chill out. Keep it up brother!
Agreed, thanks for watching!
What an amazing video and such a beautiful location with rich, deep roots. Loved this one
Thank you 🙏🏾
Great job Gajan ❤️ Really well done and very enjoyable..F’n well done 👍
That thumbnail though 🐐
😮💨
Fascinating to watch. You seemed to tread the line between your needs and the cultural needs with class. Look forward to seeing more.
Truly appreciate the kind words. Thanks for watching.
I'm going to Morocco next month, and wanted to do a street photography session! This video was very helpful. Thanks so much for all the info!
Amazing, have fun!
Beautiful narration with this bro! Loved it all the way through
Appreciate you homie! Thank you ✊🏾
Everything been said in this video is spot on. Not easy to shoot in Marrakech for the reasons you mentioned and you need to respect this and so much to learn! The best thing i did in Mararakech is hire a guide for a day .I saw a lot more and did all my best shot on that day than my whole week in the medina. Essaouira is a more relax place after an exausting week in Marrakech. Morroco is beautiful and i love the people of Morroco . I spent a month on a road trip accross this country and now i miss it. The only thing i dont miss is the police on the road :)
Oh man I feel you! I visited the city twice as part of a bigger journey and had the exact same experience! To be honest, it put me off from wanting to visit there again. I wouldn't recommend Marrakech as a destination for anyone who wants to enjoy exploring with a camera.
Thanks for watching ✌🏾
This is a wonderful documentary/presentation 👍🏾
Thank you 🙏🏾
Thanks!
Really enjoyed the video mate! Interesting location for street photos!
Thank you 🙏🏾
Great video Gajan - I appreciate the perspective of your trip and your experience from it, especially from such a beautiful place. Also, thanks for letting us know how it truly is, vs. just showing us nice pictures. The transparency of what you guys experienced was eye opening and again, appreciated. Keep up the great work! Is there a place where we can see more of the images you all took?
Truly appreciate you sharing that.
I don’t share most of my street work but I’ll be sure to give it a proper landing page in the coming months. Until then, instagram.com/GajanBalan and bokehblink.com is where you can find my work. Thanks again 🙏🏾
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Great pics too.
Thank you!
Beautiful set of pictures Gajan !
Thank you 🙏🏾
Great video. Thanks for sharing!
Another great Video, the three of you guys are great together and this is wonderful content! You guys have such a good vibe that I’m sure people would love to do workshops with you guys ( it may not be your thing) just saying, good content very approachable and guys we can relate to
Appreciate you sharing that Michael. We’ve talked about how we can share more value, in an accessible way to more photographers. Hopefully we have something worthwhile in the future.
awesome vid yo, can't wait to see more!
Thank you!
thats a chill video bro!
One of your best!🔥
Thank you brother 🙏🏾
Awesome video! Loved it!
Great video and photos Gajan! I think people need to drop all this nonsense about privilege and access etc. Marrakech thrives off tourist dollars, even if they can get annoying at times. What locals don’t get fed up with tourists at a point. You guys are intelligent and cultured enough to know how to navigate sensitively, and it showed. You adjusted accordingly, and you ended up finding a great town with great people who welcomed you and your cameras. The way Jason layed it out is what you guys did, and told a great story of your trip. Thanks for the great content.
Thank you for watching ✊🏾
Awesome film, loved your images too
Thank you 🙏🏾
The best, the only x100v
Thank you for this! I spent almost 3 weeks in Morocco in 2018, and I really struggle to put into words the feeling of life in Marrakech the way you have. Being CONSTANTLY hassled and targeted was so exhausting. I didn’t feel unsafe per se, but I definitely felt like we were being taken advantage of around every corner. I didn’t do much street photography as my husband wielded the camera way more than me, but it definitely felt less comfortable than other places to freely shoot. If anybody wants to understand the feeling of visiting there I will recommend your video! I am now living in Málaga, Spain (moved here from Halifax, NS in 2021) and highly recommend visiting!
Thanks for watching 🙏🏾
You were doing it wrong - you should have had no problems at all!
Loved this
Great narration Bro ! Kalakitinga !
🙏🏾
Bro, nice place keep your head up,
I was in Morocco once for a few weeks in casablanca, fez and marrakech
1) second day my iphone was snatched from my hand while i was taking photos (lucky i had a second mobile phone with me) ..
2) difficult to do street photography with dslr there generally coz locals esp women find it offensive even I shot from a distance and they came chasing me haaaha to delete the pics
3) some local esp the men would hassle you to take you to shops that u dont wanna go (quite annoying)
4) the cities are all colourful and beautiful
5) some locals are nice to talk too esp those who work in the hotels/riyad and the service is very good
6) architecture there is amazing
7) generally i love my travel there but street photography is not like when u r in country like India.. people there love being photographed and so animated and fun
Hi, Gajan. It's a nice example of "though pepper is small... it's a lot spicy". I wish, they add IBIS to the successor of X100V.
In need of a huge help from you. I'm constructing an all-round Fuji video kit. Thinking of buying X-T4, along with (once I start making money eventually) buying XF-native lenses like 16mm f1.4 (wide and wide macro), 27mm f2.8 (for normal range & discreetness), 56mm f1.2 (human shots), 90mm f2 (tele and tele macro) and 70-300mm Fuji (in case I need a zoom lens). I made my list, after watching several videos. Your 56 vs 90 debate gave me a lot of perspectives on their use cases. Thanks a lot! Is my list good to start with?
🔥🔥🔥
All you said is true. I was there in 2010 and made it a goal not to photograph people without they knowing. Which sucks, because I love taking pictures of people. But through patience and empathy I actually managed to have the consent of a bunch of people, including women. I speak French, so I guess that helped a bit.
Amazing, thank you for sharing.
That is the question I have been asking. Why 35mm? Why not 28mm? Fuji, when do you wake up with 28mm camera?
Great review, why didn't you take any B&W shots, especially in the City
Took a few, just didn’t share most here. This city really invites colour work.
@@GajanBalan will be there in 1 month.
love it!🔥
Thanks for the tips before the trip fam!
Very, very interesting about the challenges a street photographer faces in Morocco. Did you know about this cultural barrier before you arrived? I guess the citizens might feel exploited or used, which I DO NOT believe you were doing. Amazing that the alternative city's vibe was so much more welcoming!
Interesting observation about going wider with the lens. I've found that true even in the USA as I like to take architecture pictures also, as I wander. So are their any citizens there that do street photography I wonder? Love your philosophy and purpose!!!
Thanks for sharing, yea I always make an effort to learn and research. I knew their would be more of a conservative view, however I didn’t expect it to be that jarring. But we adapt and move forward the best way we can.
After this trip, I made it a mission to have a 28mm option readily available on any walk 😅 Thanks for watching.
@@GajanBalan You had me so scared I think I'd stay on the plane and use my 100-400mm with 2.0X teleconverter......just kidding ;) Again, thank you for the great videos and your valuable knowledge and philosophy.
Very interesting.
Nice one! ☝️
Thanks for watching ✊🏾
this locations screams for film photography
preferably for medium format one
portra 800 +1 could work there perfectly
how do you spell the name of that accepting port city?
are there any Moroccan photographers doing street/travel and are they treated the same way as the foreigner?
Raw or JPEGs? 👌
what's the medina?
I‘ve been searching for this exact lens hood for so long! Can someone tell me which it is?
It’s made by squarehood.se/
That is not America where everyone wants to be exposed either photographically or sexually, it is Morocco; a different country. Know your subjects. Over there, it is always best to conceal your camera to avoid a certain perception that you are walking aroud to take shots of everyone. Take it out whenever you want to shoot and point towards the camera whilst asking surrounding people if it is okay to shoot. That is how it works in non-western countries, mostly.
I hear you, I just disagree. Every country is different and while there’s times to be swift, I’m not one to conceal and sneak shots for a living. There’s something to be said about being forward and using photography to build bridges.
Why would someone be mad just because you, someone they do not know is taking their pic? what's the harm I don't quite understand.
They even know that people shoot from the hip too. They ask me to point my camera down . lol. Or just bring a lot of cash. Everyone you actually get to chat with willl end up trying to sell you something in the end. That said, outside Marrakech, it's easier to do photography.
lets go get yelled at. HAHAHA
sounds like they need to come into the 21st century and embrace tech and the creative arts. Or is it an invasion of privacy? what is the reason for the backlash?
People will throw tomatoes at me, but I really hate taking pictures of people's faces on the streets or be taken pictures while out and about, without consent. I especially hate when photographers sneaking in the picture in secret, like they are doing something illegal. There are a million creative ways to take pictures of people without exposing their identities or being intrusive or in people's face in general. Otherwise, get to know the person you are going to photograph, be polite and get their consent before doing so. Or be famous like the person in this video mentioned lol
I appreciate the sentiment but what a depressing world to live in where we shouldn’t document the humanity around us.
Don't get me wrong, I'm opposed to disallowing people from doing it. I'm talking more of the respectful or thoughtful aspect of things. Now days everyone has a camera and especially on touristic areas I totally get why people would feel opposed to getting pictured every day (just exaggerating :P). I believe more in the documentation with a purpose and the right publicity, but I do appreciate both sides of the argument to be honest.
You were not informed well about Morocco, also known as the kingdom of scams in some parts of the world :) You were lucky not to be theft or mugged!
Your commentary read a bit strange. Maybe do some of your own research?
Any suggestion on the white balance on x100v, what are the white balance settings are u using on still and video,
White balance is something that I select once (usually Daylight) and don’t fuss about after since it’s pretty easy to change. I just don’t trust AWB on *any* camera.
@@GajanBalan much appreciate Sir,
in islam most people believe a photograph captures the soul.
Yes, and this is also common in some other cultures as well.
@@GajanBalan it’s weird because I’m the same way. I enjoy taking photos. But, I don’t like being in photos.
As a Moroccan and amateur photographer, I can tell you that this concept is definitely not true for the majority of country’s people. The resistance to being photographed stems more from the feeling of privacy invasion. People of Marrakech interact with tourists throughout the whole year and it’s part of their daily life and so you can imagine how many times they get photographed everyday by tourists. Most citizens will not be able to differentiate between a respectful street photographer and a « in your face tourist » and just the sight of a camera can make them uncomfortable. Aside from the hassling that is talked about which is prevalent because some (mostly not well off) see it as a strategy to draw some kind of benefit from the tourist - aside from that the city’s people are incredibly nice and welcoming and helpful. Let me also say that Moroccan outsiders also deal with this type of behaviour when visiting Marrakesh.
@@CylinderHead1 You’re right. And I believe we conveyed that in this video.
@@CylinderHead1 Allah knows best. Just an observation I’ve noticed with some Muslims. Never said all. And I feel it’s just a cultural difference. Not so much to do with the religion itself
If you had a bad experience in Marrakech then maybe you were going about things the wrong way! I've shot in Marrakech - and all over Morocco - many times without any problems. You just need to respect the locals and be a little discrete. Having now watched your entire video you are going about it the wrong way - you don't understand the people at all. Even the arrogant way you walk around the street says a lot about you. You are giving a completely wrong impresion of this city and its opportunities for photographers.
Looks like you may have taken this video a little personally. I’d suggest listening with an open mind instead of projecting your feelings. Or just don’t watch this channel ✌🏾
that's what I thought, it's an Islamic thing.
Я правильно понял, что город прекрасен визуально, но люди ведут себя как дикари?
No, that is not true.
@@GajanBalan скажем иначе, люди в Марракеше сильно напрягаются, увидев парня с камерой...)))
... maybe they just don't like Americans ...