“Finding themselves lost in translation, the photographers, instead of avoiding barriers, embraced and overcame them, both visually and intellectually,” explains Simon Njami, the exhibit’s curator.
The 5 photographers chosen for this project attacked it from all different angles.
By GRANGER TRIPP
Photographs by JP KEENAN
Rachid Lazaar, 26, needs only a steady flow of water and a small hoe to flood his entire field before the next crop is planted. He carves countless narrow valleys into the barren land to funnel the water exactly where he it needs to go, it seems more a work of art than fieldwork.
With the hottest and driest part of the year over, watering his land like this is a relief for Lazaar. Drought is a dangerous reality for small, rural farmers in Morocco and it appears he has escaped it, at least this year.
Four oversized sugar cubes sit atop the mint leaves resting at the bottom of Fatima Hasson’s tin teapot.The taste is tough to beat – the cool refreshment of mint combined with the sugar’s sappy sweetness.
But, the excessive sugar consumption in the Moroccan diet comes at a price. The rate of diabetes is high in the country and is expected to double by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.
“About one and a half million people suffer from diabetes in our country,” said Dr. Jamal Belkhadir, President of the Moroccan League for the Fight Against Diabetes, in an article he published earlier this year.
