Photos

I took this picture on the famous Jemaa El Fna Squre in Marrakech, a place full of different activities representative of the daily Moroccan life. Among them are the story tellers. People come from everywhere nearby to hear stories and tales at stands such as the one shown on the picture. Other activities of teh square, which is more active at night, include: orange juice stalls, typical watersellers, snake charmers, stalls where henna tattoos are made, and performers such as singers, musicians and jugglers.

This square, which was declared World Heritage site by the Unesco, once was the place where people were beheaded (Jemaa El-Fna means assembly of the dead).

"The storyteller addresses these people directly; they are his accomplices. The text he recites or improvises functions like a score, leaving the performer a wide margin of freedom. In the oral tradition, changes in voice and oratorical rhythm; expressions and gestures, play a fundamental role: even a seemingly sacred text can be parodied and lowered to a scatological level. In children's stories and chansons de geste, the frequent use of paralinguistic devices and cynegetic sketches (which evoke hunting), stresses the magic, power or dramatic aspects of the episodes being told."

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_2000_Dec/ai_77035069


I sharpened the picture. Colors were pale and saturating the shot just makes it look artificial, so I left them as they were. I wanted to crop the lady at the left, but that would have meant to cut part of the stand.