Otman Marzouki is re-telling the Morocco story using portraits

Otman Marzouki lives in Meknes, Morocco where he manages a Facebook page called Morocco Faces, a platform he has used to appreciate the uniqueness of life especially as seen on the streets of Morocco. He is young, handsome and fundamentally, he is a portrait photographer. 

Language is important, he says. Though English and French are among the foreign languages he hopes to learn, he has started doing that with the English language. His teacher is YouTube. Otman says tutorials on YouTube have helped him greatly.

Marz, as I may choose to call him is a keen follower of The Humans of New York page on Facebook yet the page didn’t inspire his Morocco Faces project. I met him there and discovered we shared same interest in photography and life’s philosophy – that life is too short and there is no better time to be productive but now.  In this brief conversation, we discussed his choice of camera lens, a bit of his background with photography especially his love for portraits. He also disclosed his special way of taking pictures without disturbing his subject on the streets of Morocco. Enjoy! 

Otman Marzouki sounds interesting.

Actually it's my full name. Otman is my first name and the last is Marzouki. I don't need to be called by another name.

Tell me about your love for portrait photography and what inspired your Facebook page?

Two years ago, I started being fascinated by the street. I was photographing people walking and people's shadows. This Fascination was quickly turned towards seeing people closely. Firstly, it was hard to photograph people because they think that I'd do something bad with their pictures. I'm used to getting such claims from people.

My first lens was "55-200mm" which is not meant for street photography. I used it only to be more distant from the people and now I'm with my pancake lens, the "16-50mm" which is okay when it comes to photographing portraits; "street portraits," and “shadows." I still stick to photographing the shadows. Street portraits are my way of documenting people, what they usually do; their eyes, wrinkles and hands. These three things I’ve mentioned if we could focus more on them, we'll end up creating our stories of the portraits of our dreams.

You are a regular reader of the Humans of New York’s, what story has really inspired you?

Yes, I'm a regular reader HONY. Actually all of HONY's stories inspire me.

What’s your favourite camera to shoot with?

I'm a Sony fan. Sony is quite a good camera for me. But it's not perfect because all street photographers use either Fujifilm or Olympus. I guess I want to be among the street photographers who are rare and use Sony cameras for street photography.

You told me about your English, what would you recommend for a foreigner who is trying to be better with the English language?

Yes, I'm not that good with the English language, So I spend time on YouTube looking for some videos where they teach English, this is how I've learned.  

How has being from Morocco made you a better photographer?

Firstly, I'm just an amateur street photographer who is looking forward to being an expert. I have developed my own way of photographing street portraits but I still have some obstacles because of the mindsets of the people of Morocco towards cameras. 

In Nigeria, people are too conscious to have their images taken. How do you appeal to folks in Morocco?

As I told you, I've developed my own way to photograph people. Once someone catches my attention, I head to him, to be closer, then I act like I am not photographing him by positioning my camera in a way to make it look upward, and wait until he lifts his or her face. Some people start being so curious sometimes but then I click the shutter button and that’s it.

Who is the photographer you currently admire?

There are so many. I admire them because they have a perfect sight. Also, they are good at pictures processing.

What’s your big dream as a photographer?

My big dream as a photographer is to become an expert.

What’s your advice to beginners, bigger camera or a bigger mind?

Shape doesn't matter, what matters is your knowledge in light and some photography basics, for me bigger mind is more important.