Casablanca not the movie

What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?

 Asked Captain Renault to Rick: From Casablanca movie 

In this blog, I won't write about the movie itself, instead, I will try to answer the question: "What brought me to Casablanca?" from my perspective as a new element to the city of Casablanca. It is certainly not because of the movie or Ingrid Bergman. The movie is not even shot in Casablanca, but it might inspire me to share my experience as a novice photographer while living there.

Casablanca is where everything started, my career in the IT field and my passion as a street photographer.

After my graduation in Fez, destiny washed me out to a more urban area, Casablanca. Out of my comfort zone and far from the spiritual old Medina where life used to be at slow pace, despite the strong contrast between the two cities, I deliberately allowed myself to melt in a swirl "far away" from home, taking it as an adventure.

The city is known for its gigantic mosque Hassan II, holding the mad Atlantic ocean waves from invading its walls, this house of God is not only a place where we practise our religion but it's also a monument of pride for us Moroccans.

Mosque Hassan II view 1

This divine building is watching the city, you can literally see it from any position, or from the ocean itself, it's close to you as a mirage, the more you move toward it, the more it gets further. It's no reliable reference for a walking man.

Mosque Hassan II view 2

This divine building, besides its spiritual dimension, is not just a group of rocks stitched together. It's designed to match the Moorish Andalucian architecture, including its beautiful patterns painted in different blue-brown shades, it holds a mixture of cultures from Amazigh, Arab, African and European civilisations passed through this nation.

Casablanca mosque closed up view

My first purpose in this city was to find a job, finding a job as a freshly graduated wasn't easy, printing resumes and spotting potential companies on the map, was an opportunity to discover the city, walking from one street to another, getting lost into new sceneries, freezing and observing the unusual like I landed from another planet.

Many pictures were lost in my memory until I got my first camera, this was an efficient way to duplicate what goes through my eyes, hence documenting life, or city life from my own angle.

From that moment on, I added my camera to my keyring and it became my third eye, I believed that gave me the privilege to be the city watch, to watch what people barely can notice, however, CASABLANCA is so big that my "omni-watching" role is reduced to nothing.

Still, this doesn't take away my modest imagination to wake up every morning, to dive into the chaos and be part of it, looking around and sometimes hunting some special moments.

Holding squares

I could just mind my business and just be a part of the machine like anyone else. Being naturally curious about my surroundings, I preferred to stop discreetly in the middle of the flow and watch people, watch scenes, and record "unusual" moments, all of this forms a timeless space-time reference that will hopefully stand as proof of my modest existence.

Under mom's wing

Waiting for the bus

                             

Lady in veil

A man delivering some squares to his workshop, a woman picking up her kid from school, a girl waiting for a bus to get to her workplace, or another lady coming back home on a rainy day, all of them contribute in one way or another to keep the city in perpetual motion, hence themselves.

However, these people are no restless robots, Casawis adore life, once their day off approaches, they are already on the edge of their seats to breathe fresh air on the coast and rejoice the day until the last sun rays turn them into beautiful silhouette beings.

Football under sunset

Some simply prefer walking to the city centre to enjoy free performances and support local artists, watching a live one-man band in the street or a concert from jazz to different African genres in the United Nations Square, it's another form that unites the residents of the white house no matter their generations as shown in the following photograph.

Street musician | United Nations Square

On the other hand, some people have no weekends, instead, they get knocked down by a quick nap while working.

This is one visual tip of the iceberg, still many can't afford a break that I couldn't have the possibility to cross by. 

Casablanca's gravity is ruthless towards those people, they have no choice but to live according to its rhythm unless they surrender and quit.

In the meantime, the city itself is not a monster, living there teaches you hard work, discipline and progress, I take it as a huge training centre for all.

Lunch break nap

Orange seller

In winter, the coast atmosphere invades the whole city, Mohamed V Street becomes a deserted valley between two rows of buildings made since the French era. As a person descending from a dry region, I find an opportunity to add more drama to my photographs on these rainy days.

Street photography has always a combination of two major elements for me, an environment which is the street and a human being, this later composes the soul of the photograph, nevertheless, through those empty frames, the street is not just a decor waiting for a person to show up, it has a soul for its own, a street can feel the relief from the stress and the chaos caused by people, this is proven later during COVID 19 in 2020 where nature took over and got back its rights. 

Mohamed V street

Over time, I got used to the place, empty or with its people, I learned somehow to take a walk with them while going together to work or coming back home, we share no talk but the same path and destiny which gathered us together in Casablanca, despite not knowing those people what they do, where they come from, how old they are, how their day was..., it occurs to me occasionally to frame one person hoping that one image will answer all these questions.

Rainy day to work

You I and our shadows

Walking behind you

The lady with a tattoo

At the end of the day, despite life's harshness, Casawis, young and old, in the middle of the chaos, always find a way out to appreciate life, the golden hour was indeed golden, for me from a photography perspective and for them as a rare precious moment.

Sunset from a couple view

From my view, as an inhabitant of Casablanca, I tried not to express my opinion explicitly as a photojournalist or even as a "professional" photographer, my purpose from these photographic trips to the city was first a visual comfort for myself, as well as a practise to shoot my first thousands "ugly" photos.

Your first 10,000 photos are your worst.

 Cartier-Bresson. 

Cartier-Bresson is right from a technical view, however, whether a photo is aesthetically pleasing or not, it's an unskippable part of the progress, in fact, every time you have a critical view at your past pictures or any experience in general, that's a sign of your improvement, moreover, time will make every work achieved as a memory in your history, it's a markup of some time points in your life. This is something to be proud of.

 

To sum up this log, my life in Casablanca wasn't only about stalking people with a camera in the streets. Certainly, I had a life like any person, it happened that photography was a part of it, and taking some photographs contributed to highlighting my journey throughout my time in that area.

After all, we are creatures known for leaving traces beyond our skeletons, we human beings are collections of memories shared now for yesterday and tomorrow.