Title: March 19th - 13:09
Medium: Super-8 film
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Resolution: 2880 x 2160
File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4.
Comments: Blue, my favorite color. The color of the sky and reflection of what we see as the water. The slowest wavelengths of light on the visible spectrum for human sight. There was one place in the world I had always dreamt of visiting. The small blue city in Morocco called, Chefchaouen. Every building, every alleyway is painted this signature color of light blue. The city itself is an artwork. It has charm and character, a visual identity like no other place on the planet. Its blue is its own. The people who dwell here even wear the colors as if it were a flag to represent. I met Fatima after a climb to the Mosque at the top of the city where you can see a panoramic view. Chefchaouen looked like a quilt of colors stitched together as the buildings blended into each other because of their camouflage of colour. As if I were in an M.C Escher illustration of infinite staircases and shapes intertwined. I walked down the steepness of the cemetery and found a pleasant stall of a man with his bright oranges sitting in a fountain with gently dripping water. It must've been the sun and heat but those oranges looked like the most beautiful fruits I had ever seen. Or, perhaps it was the blue sidewalks and walls that made it pop out just a bit brighter in that sun stricken scene, It was so pure and beautiful, as if I was discovering a new fruit. For 20 minutes I sat there watching this water fountain of oranges and observing all the small details from the leaves, to the pores on the skin, to the sounds of the droplets. The orange man came up to me and asked if I would like a glass of Orange juice. Absolutely! I had seen two other people drink a cup and move from their seats where I had sat down to continue to watch this little fountain and made cell phone videos of it. I was in pure awe, like a child. The man set down a glass beside me and I gulped it down with great thirst and enjoyment. It not only was the best looking oranges I had ever seen, it tasted so fucking good! I was like a monk enjoying every second of every presence of this juicy experience. Fouad had met back up with me here as he took a different route. I treated him to a glass of OJ too. It was time to shoot the portrait of the day and that's where we had met Fatima, dressed in blue like her home city. She was with her friends and was at a textile stall. She held my hands as we stood in her store and Fouad had asked her to be a part of the project. She smiled big and her friends shook their heads and we walked her to the blue alleyways I was drawn to for the shoot. She was the perfect model, the embodiment of this city. She was the soul of Chefchaouen. The mother, the protector, the spirit of this place as this was her home and she shared that with us. She was no stranger to the camera, she played with us in a few different scenes wearing a few different outfits she had carried with her. We were making art, we were honoring her in her home. As it was always my dream to come visit this very special place she was from. I always told myself I would make art here, cyanotypes as this place was blue just like the pigment of the pictures the chemistry creates. To make a movie in this cinematic paradise. It is very artistic place, and it is where all the hash is made... During the night we sat in the town square where everyone eats and there are the hash dancers jumping and dancing and clapping their symbols while singing. I was hypnotized by their performance and joined in their fun. From a dream, to a waking reality, I look forward to the day I return to you sweet blue city. You know your soul is drawn to somewhere you never been, and when you go there you knew it was meant to be all along. Goto those places, because that's where you will find a part of yourself you always wanted to be. Chefchaouen, that dear blue city, was that for me.
