Behind the lens: The shadowland of Marrakech

[words and photograph © Narina Exelby]

I’ve always been fascinated by shadows, and have often thought that they can be more interesting than the object or person they’re attached to.  A few years ago I was particularly obsessed with the way they can tell a story without saying much at all, and would spend hours manoeuvring my body and changing my perspective so that I could capture shadows without interrupting the composition.

Around this time, I travelled Morocco and just happened to be upstairs in a cafe on the edge of Djeema el Fna in Marrakech as the sun fell. I looked over the balcony and down onto the square, and was completely taken aback by the shadowland morphing below me.

Early evening is a very busy time on the square and within a split-second the form of a shadow can be interrupted, ruined or lost. There’s nothing like trying to capture time to make you realise how quickly it passes, and  I spent 10 very happy, very alert minutes up on that cafe’s balcony, freezing a few precious moments of shadow-clarity.

For more stories behind the images, take a look at our Behind The Lens category.