My “Who & Why” Journey

A couple of years after the “Arab Spring” (2011), my photography changed. I had moved from Morocco where I was running a mountain guiding company, to working in the humanitarian NGO sector, initially in Sudan, then Iraq, then Afghanistan.

Ras & Timesguida Ouanoukrim (4089m) see from the summit of Jebel Toubkal 4167m

Photographing mountains, pretty much exclusively, quickly became a thing of the past. Now my context was war, displaced people and torment. A context in which I was initially reticent about taking photos as it just didn’t “feel right”.

Above: Scenes of West Mosul immediately after the defeat of ISIS in the city 2017

However the longer I worked in these contexts, the more at ease I was in connecting with the individuals and families we (the NGO) were serving, hearing their stories, and then asking if I could take their photograph.

Why take a photo anyway you might ask? A number of reasons I guess. One was that taking a photograph seemed to embed the conversation and mutual connection. Another was that people seemed to genuinely enjoy having their photo taken, and indeed onlookers would then want their photo taken…

All that for context.

Fast forward to today…

I have been struggling with the question - or identity - as to how I describe myself within a photography context.

I visit the Alps regularly through maintaining A Little Cabin in the Alps where I take photos of mountains and landscapes. I also travel outside of Europe where I do street portrait photography (far easier than in Europe I find). Wandering around Amsterdam, I take the occasional street photo.

So what am I? A landscape photographer? A mountain photographer? Street? Street Portraits?

On my Instagram account, you can see this “struggle” clearly. One days it’s a snow-covered mountain, the next a photograph of someone I engaged with on the streets.

Until - yes I know🫣 - I thought why not ask ChatGPT referencing my website for background and how best I could tweak it to reflect what I do.

In a stroke, it (he / they?) came up with this:

The current story is:

“I have photographed mountains, travelled, worked with NGOs, and came back to photography.”

The stronger story could be:

“I spent years in demanding environments where I learned that behind every location there are human stories. Photography became the way I explore and share those stories.”

That moves you from:

photographer who has travelled

to:

storyteller who uses photography

And - you know - it gets it! I guess I would have worked it out eventually (and this is in no way me converting to AI!) but now that it’s phrased like that, I can make it work in my own way. Herewith an adjusted website as a result!

Why do you take photos? Would love to hear more about this from you. You can leave a comment below.